40 Days And Counting
by redhandedwickedlittlemachine
Summary: When Aria and Ezra tell her parents about their relationship, it doesn't go over well. When they refuse to end the relationship, her parents shut her out. Ezria. Rating subject to change.
1. Let's Start At One

**A/N: This story comes to you from the idea that struck in my brain from all the new promos we've been getting. I'm a huge Ezria fan and something about this plot idea just seemed perfect to me. (I won't tell you outright. You have to wait and read :). ****) **

**Anyhow, I know logically this would probably never happen on the show, but, well, isn't that the point of fan fiction? So furthermore, don't like? DON'T READ. And no flames, please. If you don't agree with what's being written, then stop reading. I'm not trying to test your morals. I'm writing this for me, and I just happen to be sharing it with you. **

_40 Days And Counting_

_Chapter 1_

_Let's Start At One_

Aria wiped the tears from her face as she sat next to Ezra, squeezing his hand. She wasn't sure her parents knew where she was at all, and she really didn't give a damn. He was rested back on the bed with his eyes closed. She could tell that he had one hell of a migraine by the tightness of his neck, and the grip he had on her hand.

She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his bruised knuckles.

_Ezra stood in front of Byron Montgomery, his hands shaking slightly. He had just declared to his girlfriends' father that he was not only dating Aria, but in love with her. _

"_I don't mean to cause a burden, but Aria and I wanted-" _

_Before another word could come out of his mouth, Mike launched at him drilling a fist into the side of his face. It caught Ezra off guard, knocking him back a few feet. Byron jumped from his seat, pulling Mike backwards as he screamed his name. _

"_Stop," he scolded his son._

_Ezra rubbed his jaw with a wince as a finger brushed his lip and pulled away revealing blood. "Thanks," he murmured to Byron. _

_Byron turned back to face him. He walked over to Ezra and placed a hand on Ezra's shoulder. A moment later he drilled his fist into Ezra's gut as hard as he could. As Ezra doubled over, he whispered. _

"_Don't ever __**thank**__ me for thinking it's okay to touch my daughter." _

"_Byron!" Ella piped in. _

_He looked back at her momentarily, but there were no words that she could think to form. She looked at Ezra and shook her head with a look of disgust. _

"_She's only sixteen. It's __**wrong**__. It's __**illegal**__!" _

_Ezra opened his mouth to say something more, but Byron punched him once more, and then again. With the third blow, he fell to the floor, struggling for air. Byron went down over him, drilling his knee into Ezra's side as he struck him with blow after blow. Ezra attempted to fight back, only to be met with kicks to his other side by Mike. _

_Ella yelled for all of them to stop, trying to pull Byron off of Ezra, but it was futile. Eventually she gave up on Byron, but every time she managed to get Mike away from Ezra, he just went back for more. _

_Screaming filled their eardrums a moment later, though, and all three of them turned at the sight of Aria standing in the doorway. Tears shone in her eyes, and she knew why they were standing there the way they were. Ezra laid on the floor, curled to one side and gasping in breaths. _

_Aria ran to him, only to be pulled back by her mother. _

"_You two are not allowed to see each other," Ella said angrily. _

_Aria shook her head, pushing her mother off of her. She dropped to the floor next to Ezra and pulled his head into her lap. Blood dripped onto her satin white dress. _

"_Ow," he groaned with a gurgle. His face was rather bloodied from Byron's punches and he was sucking in short gasps of breath, cringing each time. _

"_C'mon," Aria whimpered to him. "You need to go to the hospital." _

_He looked up at her weakly. Blood was dripping from his brow. "Aria," he rasped. "You should stay here. Your parents-" _

"_I __**said**__ this is __**over**__," Ella yelled. _

_Aria looked up at her mother furiously as more tears ran down her face. "You can't do that! I love him!" _

_She gently helped Ezra to his feet as her mother continued to yell. _

"_Aria Rose!" Ella shouted. "You will not go __**anywhere**__!" _

_Aria shook her head at her mother. Tears still ran down her face as she stumbled towards the door with Ezra. "I'm leaving, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." _

_Aria pulled Ezra's keys from the his belt loop and pushed past her family members to the doorway. She struggled to pull her composure together as they stepped out into the crisp air. The cold wind blew her hair and tears off to the side of her face, and they stumbled slightly as she caught one of her boots in a crack in the sidewalk. _

"_I think I can walk on my own," Ezra rasped softly. He slowly removed his arm from around Aria and let it drop down next to hers. She slipped her fingers in into his hand and squeezed lightly. _

_Ezra winced and gasped suddenly and quickly, and then doubled over, dropping to a knee. His face became red as he struggled not to breathe at all. Not breathing lessened the pain. _

_Aria leaned down next to him and slipped his arm back around her neck. "Take slow, shallow breaths." _

_Ezra looked up at her with a pained expression as she helped him back to his feet and they continued walking towards the car. Aria could tell her parents were watching her from the house, but she didn't care. She could understand apprehension and anger, but beating Ezra up was something different entirely. _

_Once they made it to the car, she helped Ezra to the passenger seat and then walked back around the car. She looked up at the house and saw her mother standing on the doorstep with her arms crossed. She shook her head at Aria. _

_Aria turned and got into the car. _

They had taken him back almost as soon as they walked through the door and spent nearly an hour getting his face cleaned and stitched up. During all of it, they brought in a portable x-ray and took films of his face and chest. Aria spent every moment pacing the waiting room until they finally came out and alerted her that she could go and sit with him.

Ezra rolled his head over slowly, doing everything he could to keep from wincing. He opened his eyes slowly and Aria could see that he had ruptured blood vessels.

A nurse walked in a moment later and walked over to the bed. She brushed her hand to the inside of Ezra's wrist and squeezed gently, also watching the clock. After about thirty seconds, she flipped his chart open.

"Your heart rate has come down. That's good."

The on-call ER physician walked in a moment later and picked up his chart from the end of the bed. The nurse walked over to him and scribbled something along the side.

The doctor nodded and looked up at Ezra. "You're looking much better, Mr. Fitz. I'm going to recommend rest and ibuprofen for the pain, but I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to go home tonight. Your wrist should heal within the next week or so and you should make a follow-up appointment with your own physician in about ten days to have the stitches removed."

Ezra nodded, though he didn't say anything. His left hand had a bad sprain from trying to fight off Byron and he had four cracked ribs from being kicked. He had stitches above his right eye and along the side of his bottom lip. Aria stood as he slowly began to rise up into a sitting position. She placed her hand against the middle of his back and helped him to sit forward.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"I'll get your discharge papers," the doctor said.

Ezra nodded, moving his legs over the side of the bed. The nurse exited the room behind him and closed the door so that Ezra could change back into his bloodied clothes.

"I should take you back home," Ezra murmured to her as she helped him to remove the hospital gown.

Aria shook her head at him. "I'm not going back there, not tonight. Not after what Mike and my dad did to you."

Ezra looked up at her with a frustrated demeanor. "Aria. This isn't the way to fix things with your parents. This is only going to make it worse. We knew that this was a possibility."

Aria shook her head again. "No, Ezra. We knew that they might get angry. But this? Breaking your ribs and spraining your wrist? Causing you to need stitches? This is not something we expected. It shouldn't have even **happened**, Ezra."

She passed him his pants and he settled on the bed, gingerly lifting his legs and curling forward, putting pressure on his ribs. Aria unfolded the t-shirt he'd been wearing under his dress shirt. It had less blood on it. She tossed it to him once he had his pants pulled up and fastened. Ezra once again moved slowly as he gently pulled his shirt over his head. He settled back on the bed and she knelt down on the floor in front of him, helping him to get his shoes on.

"You don't have to do that."

Aria shook her head at him. "It's fine, Ezra. Don't worry about it."

He pushed his left foot into his shoe as she pulled it over his toes, letting his heel slip into place. Aria pulled the laces tight and then tied them before grabbing the other shoe. She slipped it onto his foot and then stood up. He grabbed her hands and pulled her closer to him. Aria lifted her hand to his face and brushed her thumb against his bottom lip, careful not to touch the stitches. Ezra leaned forward and kissed her. It was chaste and quick, but soft.

"I love you," he whispered to her.

Aria smiled sadly. "I love you too."

They pulled apart when the doctor returned a moment later with discharge papers. He handed them to Ezra along with a prescription of a week's worth of Vicodin for the pain. Ezra signed the papers with what looked to be something just barely better than a scribble; the splint on his wrist was stiff. Once the doctor passed him his papers, he stepped off the bed. He and Aria walked out of the room, and headed towards the nearest exit. Just as they entered the alcove in front of the ER, someone slammed into Aria with a hug.

"Spencer," Ezra asked wearily.

She pulled away a moment later. "I'm so sorry, Aria. I just got your text. Are you okay? Mr…Fitz?"

Her words trailed off into a question as she looked up at the man that almost didn't look like Ezra Fitz by all the bruises and cuts. He still nodded as he lifted a hand to his head and rubbed his forehead.

Aria shook her head. "I'm fine. I just… I can't go home. I need you to come with me so my mom thinks I'm at your house."

Ezra looked down at her. "Why don't you just go with her, Aria? I don't want you getting in trouble for this. Or, more trouble."

Aria shook her head at him. "I'm not leaving you like this. You need someone to take care of you. You almost lost it just trying to get to the car before."

Ezra just shook his head, and Aria felt a small spike of happiness. She was glad that he wasn't fighting her on the subject. She was honestly afraid of what might happen if he went home alone and didn't have someone to watch him.

Aria pulled her phone from the pocket of her coat and dialed her mother's cell number. She handed the phone to Spencer.

"_Hello?" _

"Mrs. Montgomery? It's Spencer. I just wanted to let you know Aria is with me. She's gonna stay at my house tonight."

"_Can you please put Aria on the phone?" _

Aria shook her head, mouthing words to Spencer.

"She's in the shower right now. I'll try and have her call you later."

There was an audible huff on the other end of the line.

"_Alright. Let her know we love her." _

"Sure, Mrs. Montgomery. See you tomorrow."

She clicked the phone dead and then handed it to Aria. "You're good to go."

"Thanks," she said. She looked up at Ezra, who only seemed to be climbing in his pain scale even though the doctors had given him some pain killers already.

She hugged Spencer and then they parted ways. Aria wrapped her arm around Ezra as they walked towards the car. Once they made it to it and were inside, Ezra closed his eyes and Aria did her best to avoid any major bumps or forceful movements as she drove. The drive was quiet; she purposely left the radio off.

Aria stopped by the pharmacy long enough to let Ezra get the prescription filled and then they went back to his apartment.

As he stepped inside the doorway, he kicked off his shoes and pulled at his t-shirt. Aria walked over to the small area he had for a bedroom and pulled a fresh pair of flannel pajama pants out for him. Ezra fought with his clothes for a bit, trying to get out of them.

Aria walked over to him and gently pulled his shirt over his head. She then helped him with his pants. As she threw them off into a pile of dirty clothes, he pulled her towards him. He caressed her cheek with his right hand.

"I love you," he said, just as he had in the hospital. He kissed her, pulling her closer to him. Aria straddled over his right leg and she ran her hands gently up his chest, careful not to hurt him. Ezra pulled her flush against him, running his hands under her jacket and all over her back.

Aria could tell that the situation was getting hot and heavy, almost too quickly. She reluctantly broke the kiss and rested her head against his.

"Ezra, I don't know about this. We agreed it would happen when we both felt comfortable."

Ironically, it was Aria who had been the one to wait. She had wanted to give up her virginity to him long before now, but Ezra had told her he simply wasn't comfortable having sex with a minor, let alone sleeping with her when her parents didn't know. They had both discussed the repercussions that there could be if the relationship was ripped apart after they had been intimate.

"I'm sure about this," he insisted to her.

"Are you sure it's not just because you're afraid we're going to be torn apart," she asked him shakily. He nodded.

"I love you, Aria. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. I don't care what happens from here on out. I want you."

He pulled her closer to him, if it was possible, and captured her lips in a kiss. Aria kissed him back and brushed her tongue against his before he bit down on her bottom lip. Ezra scooted them backwards on the bed and then fell backwards with her onto the bed. The blow to his ribs hurt a bit, but he pushed it to the back of his mind as he ran his hands up the skirt of her dress.

Aria rolled them over and then scooted up towards the pillows a bit. Ezra crawled after her, catching her lips in another kiss. Aria wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hastily. Ezra slipped a hand between her legs and rubbed her lips through her lace panties. Aria squirmed with clear aggravation as she moved her hands down to his boxers and squeezed him over his clothes. Ezra groaned and pulled away from their kiss. He bit down on the side of her neck.

Ezra pulled her up and removed her jacket. He pulled at the zipper on the back of her dress and then pulled Aria up onto her knees so he could pull it up off of her. Aria wrapped her arms around Ezra's neck and kissed him he wrapped his arms around her and unsnapped her bra before bringing a hand around to cup one of her breasts. He brushed his thumb over the nipple. Aria shivered.

Ezra shifted them so that Aria was lying back down on the bed and moved southward. He leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth. Aria squealed and then quickly covered her mouth, remembering the thin walls.

As Ezra worked on her nipple, his hands moved down to her panties; he pulled them down gently off her hips and worked them down her legs until he was able to toss them to the floor. Once he had done that, he gently spread her legs apart and inserted one sole finger inside of her. Aria mewled softly. Ezra pressed his thumb up against her clitoris and she convulsed, looking up at him for a split second as a wave of pleasure washed through her.

He smiled, coming up from his place where he had been suckling on her nipple. He leaned back up to her and kissed her lips softly before moving down to her other breast. His injured hand laid lazily on the bed while his elbow and knees supported his weight as he continued to pleasure her.

After a few minutes, Aria began to squirm, so Ezra added a second finger. And then a third. All the while, his erection grew and stiffened in the confines of his boxers, straining for release. He considered going down on her, but by the look on her face, he wasn't sure either of them would be able to hold out that long.

Removing his fingers from inside her, he knelt and pushed his boxers down slowly off his hips. Aria leaned up and kissed him as she tentatively reached out and took him into her hand. Ezra groaned. He thrusted once into the grip of her hand.

That was all it took for her to start stroking him. For a virgin, she knew how to torture him well.

She rolled them over again and straddled his waist before coming down upon him. They both groaned loudly. Aria pulled him up to her and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him again. Ezra kissed her back as he gently lowered her down onto him. She let out a soft breath into his mouth as he filled into her. She moved her hips a few times to adjust to him, which only served to further agonize Ezra.

Once he was sure she was relaxed, he began to move her up and down. They cried into each other's mouths as her hips came up and down against him, hitting each other's pelvic bone almost every time.

It was short-lived though, and they both quickly reached their climax.

Ezra lowered slowly down onto the bed, still feeling the ache in his torso, though the pain in his head has subsided somewhat with the help of internal dopamine and endorphins.

Aria hooked her leg around his and pulled him with her as she rolled onto her side. She wasn't ready to part from his body just yet.

Ezra kissed her forehead and then kissed her lips. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed the side of her neck.

"Are you alright," he asked her softly.

Aria nodded, resting her head against a pillow with her eyes closed. "I'm great," she whispered.

"You're sure?"

"Yes," she replied, breathlessly. She moved closer to him and slipped her arms under his, snuggling up against him. Ezra wrapped both arms around her, feeling the nakedness of her full back for the first time.

He looked down at her dozing wearily against him and took in the sight of her completely unclothed body. She is a sight for sore eyes. Her porcelain skin is covered in a light sheen of sweat, and her dips and curves appear perfect to him.

"You're so beautiful, Aria."

Aria smiled. "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."

Ezra chuckled. She shivered a moment later. He reached behind him and pulled a folded blanket over them before wrapping his arm around her again. Regardless of the fact that he knew he'd be hurting too much to even think about moving in the morning, he didn't want anything about the current moment to change.

_**-  
>Say you have a little faith in me<br>**__**Just close your eyes and let me lead  
>- <strong>_

Aria slowly pulled her limbs from between Ezra's as she awoke the next morning. She knew it was still early enough that she didn't need to be worried that she'd missed school quite yet. She could feel however, that she needed a shower.

More than once in the middle of the night, he had awoken with an erection. They proceeded to have sex again. It had left her exhausted, but she knew that she had to get out of there with enough time to meet up with Spencer and borrow some clothes. She couldn't go to school wearing the same clothes she'd worn the day before.

As she pushed off the bed, Ezra's arm slipped off her waist and he groaned. He opened his eyes and looked at her in the darkness of the apartment.

"What's wrong," he asked. He was genuinely worried.

"Nothing," she whispered. "Go back to sleep. I have to shower and call Spencer."

Ezra stared at her for a long moment before nodding and resting his head back against the pillow.

Aria grabbed his t-shirt from the floor and pulled it on before she walked into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass out of the drying rack next to the sink and filled it with water. She took several large gulps from it and then refilled it.

She grabbed Ezra's prescription bag from the counter and quietly pulled it open. Once she had, she checked the instructions and then walked back over to the bed and settled the glass of water on the nightstand. She opened the bottle and placed a pill on the table next to it.

She walked back across the room and into the bathroom. As she walked into the bathroom, she turned the light on and closed the door behind her. She searched through his cabinets, hoping he had some bar soap.

She was surprised when instead she found women's body wash. It wasn't her preferred brand, but next to it, was her preferred brand of perfume.

Aria turned on the shower and discarded the shirt. She placed the soap on the inside of the shower and then stepped in and closed the door. She quickly wetted her hair and then grabbed some of Ezra's shampoo and washed her hair. She knew she would have to settle for a slightly frizzy style, as she didn't have any products with her, but she didn't mind much.

Once her hair was washed, she grabbed the body wash and wiped down every inch of her skin with Ezra's loofa. She scrubbed just about every inch of skin until she was sure she was clean and then rinsed off and turned the shower off.

When she had dried off, she tucked her towel around herself and walked into the apartment again; Ezra had taken the pill sitting on the nightstand and gone back to sleep.

Aria gathered her clothes and pulled them on before clipping her hair up with something in her purse. She slipped her feet into her boots and then looked down at her dress. There was blood on the top of it from the night before. She panicked for a moment and then grabbed a stray sweater lying on the floor. It was a maroon colour with some sports team on it. Aria quickly slipped off her leather jacket and slipped the sweater on, zipping it up.

She pulled her coat on and then walked over to the bed and leaned down. She kissed Ezra's forehead and scrawled out a note for him that she left on the nightstand before she walked out of his apartment. She dialed Spencer's number as she walked towards the front entrance.

"_Aria?" _

"You're already awake," Aria said in a surprised tone.

"_Yeah. Melissa needed help with some stuff for the nursery. A crib was delivered today." _

Aria nodded, though Spencer couldn't see her. "Can you come get me? I need to go home and get my books."

"_Sure. Is Mr. Fitz okay?" _

"He should be," Aria said as she walked out of the apartment building. "I think he's taking the day off, which is good. He's sleeping right now. Can you hurry, Spence? These clothes are all dirty."

"_I'm a few blocks away. I'll be there in two minutes." _

"Okay," Aria murmured. She closed her phone a moment later and crossed her arms as she stood on the corner of the street, waiting for Spencer.

As Spencer said, she showed up a mere 90 seconds later and stopped right in front of Aria. Aria pulled open the passenger side door to find a bag filled with clothes.

"What's this?"

"A real alibi," Spencer replied. We can stop at the café and you can change. I'll get us both some coffee."

"Thanks, Spence."

Nothing more was said between them as Spencer drove towards the café, and Aria appreciated it. She had a million thoughts running through her mind about what she would be walking into when she got home. Realistically, she wanted to go there long enough to get her car, her books, and some clothes. After that, she didn't care if she spoke to her father or brother ever again. She wasn't very pleased with her mother, either.

Spencer pulled up to the café a few minutes later and shut the car off. They got out of the car and Aria walked into the café, making a dash for the restroom. It was a one-person facility, so she had plenty of space to move around.

She locked the door behind her and quickly removed her dress. She had left her soiled panties back at Ezra's, not daring to bring them home with her. Her parents would ask questions. There would be hell to pay if they found out.

Once she was clear of the clothes, she dug through the bag. There was a brand new polka-dotted bra and a matching pair of boy-short panties, just like Aria liked. A card hung off one of the hangers. She picked it up.

"_Happy early birthday" - Spencer_

Aria chuckled and shook her head as she pulled on the fresh garments. Spencer had also picked out a red tank-top and black skinny jeans for her. Aria smirked to herself. The outfit went well with the sweater she'd 'borrowed' from Ezra.

She pulled the clothes on quickly and then slipped her boots back on and stuffed the dirty dress into the bag. Continuing with the idea that she'd conveniently 'forgot' her things at Spencer's, Aria pulled the trash lid off the can and stuffed the bra halfway down into the can.

She exited the room a few minutes later and walked outside to Spencer's car. Spencer had the car started up again. She handed a cup of coffee to Aria.

"Your place," Spencer asked.

Aria nodded. "I just want to get a few things."

Once again, there was silence as they drove. Aria had a sense that Spencer understood what she was dealing with, even if she didn't say anything.

"Thanks for doing this, Spencer."

Spencer looked over at her. "I don't want to see anything pull you and Mr. Fitz apart, Aria. I know you're both happy together. If people can't see or understand that, then screw them."

Aria chuckled and turned to look back out the window. "I just can't believe they beat him up like that. I expected yelling, even threats of the police, but not to have to see him like that. I never thought I'd see him that hurt."

Spencer reached over and squeezed Aria's hand.

They sat in silence until they reached Aria's parent's home. Spencer hugged Aria.

"Good luck. I hope it goes okay."

Aria nodded. "Thanks."

She got out of the car and walked up the walkway to the house. Her parents were probably up and getting ready for the day.

Aria opened the door quietly and just enough to slip through before closing it again. She tiptoed up the stairs and down the hall, to her bedroom. Once she made it inside, she shut the door behind her and heaved a sigh of relief.

She walked into the bathroom and threw her bloodied dress into the hamper. Then she picked up her books from the floor. It dawned on her that she was grateful to have a study hall first period. She hadn't gotten much of her homework done.

Once she was done stuffing her books into her bag, she grabbed another from the closet. She pulled down some dresses, along with a few pairs of jeans and some shirts. She grabbed a few sweaters and jackets and then stuffed them all into the duffel. The bag was practically ready to burst, but she had to take as much as she could if she was going to get out of there.

She heard footsteps coming down her hall and she froze. She tossed the bag back into her closet and grabbed a jean jacket. She buttoned it up at the fastest pace she could, doing everything she could to hide Ezra's sweater.

Her door opened a few seconds later.

"You're here," Ella said incredulously.

Aria shrugged. "I needed my books. I'm going to school."

"Alright," Ella said. "But after school, we need to talk."

Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "About what? How much you hate Ezra?"

"About whether or not you should continue your extension class at Hollis; your father and I feel it's best that you not go there until we figure out what to do about this situation with you and…Ezra. You're forbidden to see him."

"Oh c'mon, mom!" Aria whined. "We don't do anything wrong! We watch movies! We talk!"

"Your relationship with him is inappropriate, Aria. It won't continue another minute."

Aria shook her head. She could feel more tears building in her eyes. "I hate you."

"You're grounded," Ella retorted. "To school and then back home, I'll go in with you and we'll come back together. You won't speak with him at all. Your phone will be left in your locker during the school day, and at home, it will be surrendered to me or your father. I will call Ezra and tell him not to call here.

Aria shook her head as tears began to roll down her face. "You don't know what you're doing."

Ella shook her head. "No, Aria. You don't know what you're doing. Getting involved in a relationship like this; making choices like this that are unsafe. It could hurt the both of you substantially. If the cops or parents board heard about this, Ezra could be barred from teaching. If you two keep going, you're only destined for disaster. This relationship could destroy your life, sweetie."

Aria brought her hands up to her face and dug them into her hair. Her head was still shaking. "Go away, GO!"

Ella walked out of the room, leaving her standing there, crying. Aria struggled to pull herself together. Once she managed to, she stuffed her duffel bag under her bed and then made sure the skirt covered it before she pulled her phone from her pocket. She walked into her bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"_This is Ezra. If you got the machine, I'm probably working. Leave me one and I'll get back to you." _

Aria sniffled as she leaned back against the wall behind her. The phone beeped, alerting her that it was recording.

"I don't- k-know what to d-do, Ezra, they're f-forbidding me to see you. Even talk to you. I c-can't do this. I don't want to be here. Please call me. O-or Spencer or Han-nah. Emily. I need to talk to you. Please. I love you."

She ended the call a minute later and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

"Aria! Breakfast!" Mike called from the hallway.

Aria rolled her eyes. She stuffed her phone into her bag and then walked out of the bathroom and out of her bedroom. She ran down the steps with her purse and book bag hanging from her shoulder.

Once she was downstairs, she grabbed a banana from the table and peeled it. She broke off half of it and then placed the rest on the table.

"Can we go," she asked hastily. "I need to get some work done before school starts."

Ella watched her warily and then nodded. "I suppose I should start grading those papers anyhow."

Aria snatched her keys off the table and walked out of the house, not bothering to wait for her mother. She walked over to her car and ducked around the passenger side, taking off her jean jacket. She quickly slipped off Ezra's sweater and stuffed it into her book bag before she slipped her jacket back on.

Her mother walked out of the house as she rounding the car back to the driver's side. She opened the door and got in, starting the car. By the time Ella reached the car, Aria had her seatbelt on.

She settled her bags in the backseat and then got into the passenger side of the car and pulled on her own seat belt. Once it was on, Aria floored the gas as she pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Rosewood High. The ride was quiet and tense. Aria had nothing to say to her mother, and she was sure her mother wasn't too happy with her, either.

When they made it to school, they split up. Ella headed for the teachers' lounge while Aria went to the cafeteria. Spencer, Emily, and Hanna were all seated at a table with their books, but none of them were working.

Aria got herself something to drink and then walked over to the table and sat down. She pulled her books out of her bag and began to do work, even though the other girls weren't.

"How was it?" Spencer asked.

Aria shrugged. "My mom forbade me to see him again. I'm not allowed to talk to him either." She looked up at them. "I asked him to call me through one of you. I don't know what else to do."

Hanna leaned over in her seat and hugged Aria. "I'm so sorry sweetie."

Aria shrugged, doing everything she could to keep from crying again. "I can't fight them. I don't want to be there anymore. I'll…figure something out," she murmured.

"What do you mean," Spencer asked. Her tone was concerned.

Aria shook her head. "I have to get this done before the day starts."

And that was her attitude as the day passed. She said very little beyond asking the girls in the few spare moments away from Ella, if Ezra had texted or called at all. She checked her phone during every passing period, but her phone never rang.

To go this long without hearing from him killed her. By lunch, she was in the bathroom, struggling to hold back tears. Hanna stood in front of her as she sat on the sink, wiping away tears before they could fall out of her eyes.

"Have you tried calling him again," Hanna asked.

Aria shook her head. "I know he's probably resting, but what am I supposed to do, Han? What if this is really it? What he doesn't want me anymore?"

"Why wouldn't he want you anymore, Aria? You're absolutely gorgeous. You're funny, you're smart-"

Aria glared at her, though tears fell over her eyelids from the action.

"Oh," Hanna murmured. "Aria, I'm sure that's not it. Fi- Ezra loves you."

She gulped, looking around the empty bathroom. Normally she wouldn't be so stupid about saying his name in a public place.

Just then, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out.

"Unknown number."

Aria grabbed it from her hands and clicked the green button.

"Ezra?"

"_Where are you?"_ he asked.

"School," she said. Her voice was thick with sorrow.

"_What about after school? Can we meet up?" _

"I can try and sneak out," she offered.

"_Alright." _

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked.

"_I'm managing,"_ he replied.

"I promise I'll try to get there," she insisted.

She was about to tell him she loved him, when the bathroom door opened and her mom walked in. Hanna grabbed the phone from Aria quickly and placed it against her ear.

"Yeah, I love you too, Caleb. Come home soon."

She ended the call a moment later and Aria wiped her tears from her face, keeping her attention from her mother.

"Aria, you should eat something."

Aria hopped down off the counter and pushed past her mother, ignoring her. Once she and Hanna were back in the cafeteria, they walked over to the school store and ordered a tray of nachos and cheese to share.

Aria's phone chimed in her pocket.

"_Hiding secrets from mommy? _

_That never goes over well, does it?" _

_-A_

Aria rolled her eyes and stuffed her phone back into her bag. "Stupid A."

After lunch, the girls split up and headed to their different classes. By the end of the day, Aria was emotionally and physically exhausted. She let her mother drive, only so that she could sit in the back seat instead of sitting next to her. Ella threatened to take the keys to the car away from Aria. It wasn't a threat Aria was much afraid of. She knew that her mother always hid her keys under the bathroom sink.

When they got home, Aria went up to her room to work on her homework. While she did, she made sure that she grabbed the book Ezra had bought her and several other things, including a bracelet he'd bought her for their six month anniversary. It was a sterling silver chain, with a small band that had 'my love' engraved onto it.

By the time her parents were serving dinner Aria had already snuck her duffel downstairs, into a closet near the doorway. She tried to appear civil, but doing so was getting on every nerve she had.

Her phone rang just as they were about to sit down.

Ella picked it up from the counter.

"_S.O.S. Please come._

_It's Toby." -Spencer_

She looked up at Aria, and Aria hoped with all her might that the plan worked.

"Don't be too late," Ella told her. She handed Aria her phone and her keys. "Call if you're not able to make it home. There's a storm coming tonight."

Aria shuddered. The last time it had stormed in Rosewood, someone had destroyed Alison's memorial.

"Okay," she said politely.

She walked towards the front door. Once she was in the doorway, she walked over to the closet next to it.

Byron stepped around the corner. "And Aria?"

She looked up at him, terrified that she'd been caught. She struggled to keep her face straight.

"Yeah?"

"Take a thicker coat. You'll get soaked in that."

Aria smiled and grabbed a winter jacket down off the hanger, as well as an umbrella. Byron smiled.

"Be safe, sweetie. We love you."

He turned and walked away, leaving her standing there.

Once his footsteps were out of earshot, Aria pulled her duffel from the closet and slung it over her shoulder; she closed the closet and dropped her coat over the side of the duffel bag. She picked up her purse and school bag and then walked out of the house and over to her car. She opened the trunk and tossed everything inside.

As she closed it, she watched the house for any sign that she'd been seen. She let out a sigh of relief and then walked back up to the house and ran up the stairs.

She walked down to her bedroom and grabbed a much smaller duffel from her closet, and stuffed some sneakers and flip flops into it, along with her cosmetic necessities like her perfume and body wash. She stuffed Ezra's sweater around it all to muffle the noise and then dashed back down the stairs to find her parents standing there.

"I thought you were leaving," Ella said.

Aria nodded. "I'm still going. Just thought I'd grab some clothes. Just in case."

"Okay," Ella replied. She leaned forward and hugged Aria. "I hope you know we still love you, Aria. We're not trying to hurt you."

Aria stiffened in the hug, but let her mother have the moment. When they released, Aria nodded at her. "I'll see you later."

She walked to the door and opened it again, and then walked out. With her keys in one hand, and her duffel hanging off her opposite shoulder, she couldn't help but smile.

She wasn't coming back if she had anything to say about it.


	2. Head Under Water

**A/N:** Bear with me. This may be a little lengthy of an authors note... **To start**, I completely blanked on this in chapter 1, but I owe mounds of love and respect to my beta/proofreader, Zeke. A friend for over a year, he's always loved my fics, and I couldn't ask for anyone better as a helping hand.

**Second,** I've gotten AMAZING reviews on chapter one, and I love you guys so much for reviewing. It means so much to hear what you think, and gives me the power/energy/etcetera to continue writing. Some of you had some constructive criticism, and I'm grateful for it, as always.

**Third,** there is research that is involved with writing this story on certain things so there may be things that I get wrong in the future as I continue to write, but I apologize if that actually happens.

**Fourth:** logically, some of you are probably asking yourselves why Aria's parents don't just turn Ezra in to the police. The easy answer is: **this is my story and I can do what I want with it. **The not-as-easy-but-still-relevant answer is that while Ella and Byron disagree with Ezra/Aria's choices, they don't want to hurt her more than they already are. Remember, Ella told Ezra to get out of town. She never threatened to talk to the cops.

**Fifth:** I know some of you didn't care for the fight in the first chapter, but the fact of the matter is that Aria's family is reacting the logical way: they've got the idea in their head that Aria must be brainwashed. That she couldn't possibly be in love with Ezra. Just the same, they refuse to listen to the story of how things came to be, so their logic is flawed. Mike and Byron's lashing out is one of protection, because, like it or not, they probably look at Ezra as some sort of **pervert.**

**Sixth:** I apologize for taking a bit to post this. Literally the night after I posted chapter one, I got slapped in the face with a nasty... i don't even think it's a cold. It's been going around in my family, and came down hard on me. I haven't been able to write, so I didn't want to post chapter 2, when after chapter 3, I haven't finished chapter 4 yet. Anyhow, I'm feeling a little better today, so I'm hoping to get some writing done. That said, I wanted to post chapter 2.

And lastly (finally, right?) sometimes there's going to be stuff written that you don't like. Some of you may not agree with the logic of how I write certain things. But then, it is **my** idea. As stated in chapter one, I **choose **to share this story with you. I hope that's okay with you all.

Alas...onward to chapter 2!

_Chapter 2_

_Head Under Water_

Aria walked up the hallway to Ezra's apartment with her duffels and her school bag tossed over her shoulders. She had just finished talking to Spencer and thanking her for giving her an out. Aria stuffed her phone into her pocket as she reached Ezra's door. She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open and looked around.

As she stepped inside, she saw that he was lying in his bed. She dropped her bag near the door and kicked off her boots, walking over to him. She kneeled up onto the bed as she reached it and sat down next to him.

"Ezra?" She ran her fingers gently through his hair.

He groaned, cringing from the sound of her voice. "Mmm?"

Aria frowned. "Are you okay?"

"Bad headache," he said softly.

Aria gulped, trying to keep her emotions at bay. It was just yet another reminder of how cruel her father and Mike had been to do what they had done to him.

"Did you call the doctor? You could have a concussion."

Ezra shook his head. His fingers were dug into his hair, and she could tell that he was genuinely in pain.

"Every time I move, the room starts spinning and I feel like I'm going to be sick."

Aria shook her head. "I think we need to go to the hospital."

Ezra pushed up off the bed and ran a hand over his eyes. His head was spinning once again, and his stomach had started to churn.

"Aria, we have to figure out what to do about all of this."

"Later," Aria argued. "You need to go to the hospital. I'm really worried, Ezra."

He looked up at her and nodded after a moment. "Alright."

Ezra closed his eyes as he shifted his legs off the bed. He had gotten dressed at some point into a pair of grey sweatpants and a midnight blue t-shirt.

He opened his eyes as he rested over the side of the bed, and gulped. "I need a bucket. I'm going to be sick."

Aria jumped off the bed and ran across the room into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet below the sink and pulled out a small wash basin before rushing back across the room. By the way Ezra was shaking with his hand over his mouth; she could tell he was going to vomit.

She barely got the bucket under him before he grabbed it and heaved. Aria stood next to him and rubbed circles in his back until he managed to stop and catch his breath.

Once he had, Aria took the bucket and walked to the bathroom. She dumped the contents in the bucket into the toilet and then rinsed out the inside before dumping the water and what had clung to the inside of the bucket into the toilet as well. She hit the flusher and then turned and walked out of the bathroom.

"Are you alright now?"

Ezra nodded and moved off his bed. He walked over to the doorway and picked up his shoes and then walked over to the couch. He sat down and curled gingerly to pull his shoes on. Aria walked over to him a few seconds later with a sweater and tossed it on the back of the couch. Once Ezra had his shoes on, he stood and pulled on his sweater. He walked over to Aria, who was leaning up against the doorway.

"Ready?" She asked softly.

Ezra nodded.

_**-  
>I still got a few more dances<br>**__**With the devil; I'm cleaning up my act  
>- <strong>_

Aria had been right. Almost as soon as they had gotten in to see a doctor and explained the same lie they had the night before, the doctor confirmed a concussion. The ER doctor the night before had suggested that it was possible, but had insisted that if the pain wasn't getting better to return the next day.

They had taken Ezra down for an MRI to be sure that his brain wasn't bleeding, and Aria was staring out the window. As promised, it had started to rain. The water was coming down pretty hard already, and she knew they were going to get soaked.

Watching it flood down reminded her of right after they had met, and had run into each other at the movie theatre. It had killed her, sitting next to him while her mom was just inches away, and completely unable to touch him.

As she stared out the window, she realized how used to that feeling she'd become; the pain of not being able to touch the person she loved more than anything else on the planet. So many times during his time at the high school, Aria had wished she could run to him and just have him hold her. How many times had A pulled something that made her wish she could just go to him? She couldn't even count them.

She took a deep breath as tears brimmed up at her eyelids. Ezra had told her about how he had openly admitted to Ella that he was in love with her. He had also told her that her mother had said that if he knew what was best for him, that he would get out of town. That had been the deciding factor that had driven them to decide to tell her parents. Aria only wished that she had been there when he decided to do it. Maybe this wouldn't have happened then.

She turned away from the window and walked back over to the chair she'd been sitting in. They had left her in the waiting room while they had taken Ezra down to radiology.

"Aria?"

She looked up and spotted Hanna walking out of one of the cubicles. She was holding her hands to her chest.

"Hanna. What happened?"

Hanna shrugged. "Sliced my palm cutting a pineapple. Are you okay? Mr. Fitz?"

Aria looked around the room, nervous about someone overhearing them, like Hanna's mom or Caleb.

"It's alright," Hanna assured her. "I told Caleb he could go pull my car around. My mom had to work late, so she called the ER to tell them it was alright to stitch me up."

Aria nodded. "Ezra- you know about my parents, right?"

Hanna nodded. "That's harsh. Can't believe they beat him up."

"My dad and Mike beat him up," Aria corrected. "Anyway, he's got a concussion. He's had really bad nausea and dizziness, so we came back in."

"Sorry, sweetie." Hanna said.

Aria looked down at the floor. She rested her chin in her hand.

"Have you figured out what you're going to do about your parents?"

Aria shook her head. "I can't be there, though, Han. They want to basically put me under house arrest. We're not supposed to talk or see each other."

A knot started to form in Aria's throat. She swallowed hard, feeling her bottom lip tremble. "I mean, we never meant for any of this to happen. We tried to not be together, and it didn't work. I love him Hanna; I mean **really** love him. Why don't my parents see that?"

Hanna shook her head. She hugged Aria across their seats. "I don't know."

Aria breathed a deep breath as she sat there, letting her friend comfort her. They parted when Aria spotted Caleb walking into the waiting room.

"I'll talk to you later," Hanna said as she stood. Aria nodded and watched Hanna and Caleb walk out of the hospital.

She leaned back in her chair and exhaled a sigh. She wanted more than anything to just get finished with all of this hospital crap and then not have to deal with it anymore.

After a while, an orderly wheeled Ezra back to the room where he had been placed when they came in. Aria followed in behind them and watched as Ezra moved back on the bed.

"Did they tell you anything?" She asked.

Ezra shook his head. "Pain meds are helping a little, though."

He looked down at her as she slipped her hand into his. He squeezed hers lightly.

"Aria, we have to talk about your parents. I don't think running away is the answer."

"Then what is, Ezra? Because staying home with them isn't going to make them change their minds. My mom told me this morning that I wasn't allowed to see or talk to you."

He turned on the bed so that he was facing her, and brought his hand up to her cheek. "I love you, and I love having you with me at the apartment, but this could drive your parents to call the police. I could lose my job. I could end up in jail."

Still holding his hand, Aria brought both of hers up to her forehead and clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry again. She hated the idea of any of that happening. She hated that she had caused all this pain.

"I love you. I don't want to lose you," she cried.

Ezra sat up and pulled her up to her feet, so that she was standing face to face with him.

"This is not the end Aria. We've overcome obstacles before. We'll get through this one, too. We'll go to your parents again tomorrow. Between the two of us-"

Aria shook her head. "I don't want them to hurt you again."

"If it seems like it's going to get physical again, I'll leave." Ezra promised. He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "I just want to see you happy, Aria. That's the most important thing to me. Okay?"

Aria nodded, even though tears were running down her face. She wanted so badly to be finished with all the crying she'd been doing in the last few days, but somehow she sensed that she wasn't quite there yet.

Ezra pulled her towards him and kissed her forehead. "It'll get better, I promise."

Aria stepped away from him as a doctor walked into the room carrying a large folder. He opened it and pulled films from it. He held them up to the light and looked at them.

"It appears; thankfully that there aren't any bleeds in your brain. It's likely that you simply have a severe concussion, which actually isn't so simple."

"How do you treat it?" Aria asked.

"The best treatment for a concussion is rest," the doctor answered. "Lots of rest, and no stress on the brain. Anymore run-ins with trouble-makers on the sidewalk should just be ignored to the best of your ability."

Aria and Ezra nodded. Their lie about his injuries was created around a story that Ezra had gone to get them food, and had gotten jumped by a bunch of kids on the sidewalk.

"I'd like you to stay on the prescribed pain killers until the pain becomes more manageable. And if you haven't already asked for it, a few days off from work would probably do wonders."

Ezra nodded once more. "Thanks."

The doctor nodded. "I'll get your discharge papers."

He walked out of the room, leaving Aria and Ezra to sit there alone once more. Aria handed Ezra his sweater and watched as he put it on. Every second that passed, she was nervous that her time with him truly was limited. She didn't want tomorrow be the last time she ever got to see him.

Once he had his sweater on, he stepped off the bed and walked over to her. He tilted her chin up to look at him.

"Hey. This is right. This is important. And if your parents manage to split us up, its only for a little more than a year. You'll be seventeen in a few weeks."

Aria laughed, but it turned to a whimper a moment later. "But what if they actually do, Ezra? What then? I know Jackie wants you back."

Ezra shook his head at her. "I don't care. Jackie will never be more than a friend. I told you four months ago; You are now. She's the past. Nothing is going to change that. If I have to wait for you, then that's what I'll do. You're it, Aria."

She knew the veracity behind his words was genuine, and far more than anyone else would normally think. She knew that between the lines, there was an 'I want to marry you one day' in there.

She hugged him, burying her face in his sweater. She breathed in the scent of his cologne and let the warmth of his body warm her. They only parted when the doctor returned with discharge papers. Ezra quickly signed them, and then they walked out of the room.

As they walked towards the entrance, they could already hear the water flooding down from the sky. It was like buckets just being poured repeatedly, and the large puddles that were forming in the parking lot was a testament to that. Aria looked to Ezra, and he looked back at her with the same nervous look before they both pulled their hoods up and made a mad dash out into the flooding water. Thunder and lightning struck hard about a thousand yards away and Aria shuddered as she reached the car. Storms could be beautiful, but seeing lightning strike like that could also be horrific when it was so close.

When they were settled in the car and it was on, Aria blasted the heat. They both shivered as their wet clothes clung to them.

Ezra reached out and took Aria's right arm as she drove, squeezing it lightly. The splint on his left wrist was also wet, though not nearly as bad as the rest of his clothing. His sweater was completely soaked through, and his shirt looked to be in the same situation. Aria completely understood his need to shiver.

The heat brought a modicum of comfort, but fortunately the drive wasn't long. Aria pulled Ezra's car into his space and then exchanged a glance with him. It occurred to her that she probably should've grabbed her umbrella before they left the apartment earlier, but it was too late now.

"Ready?" He asked her.

Aria nodded. A few seconds later, they both shoved their doors open. Aria hit the lock button on the inside of the door and then they both slammed their doors and ran for the entrance to the building. They both speed walked to his apartment.

Once they were inside, the both began stripping off their clothes and made a mad dash for the shower. Ironically, the joined decision had nothing to do with sexual needs, but everything to do with the physiological need to get warm.

By the time they were standing in the bathroom, neither of them had a trace of clothing on. Aria shivered as she stood behind Ezra, waiting while he turned the knob for the shower. After a long few minutes, he stepped inside and reached out for her hand. She took it gratefully and stepped into the shower in front of him.

Ezra pulled the door shut and wrapped his arms around her as they stood under the pulsing spray. For a long while, they just stood there in the warmth of the water. Aria's eyes drifted over his skin, noting all the bruises that had formed and darkened in the last twenty-four hours. Some were lighter than others, but his ribcage looked almost black. She felt bad even touching him there, terrified that the slightest touch would bring him pain.

After a while, he reached up and lifted her chin up to look at him. She smiled softly at him.

Ezra leaned down and kissed her, running his hands up and down her back. Aria lifted her arms up and wrapped them around his neck, running her fingers into his scalp at the base of his skull. Her fingers moved gently, but she could tell the massaging movements her fingers were making helped dull the ache.

A few passionate moments later, they broke apart. Sufficiently warm, they opted to get out of the shower and they both headed back into the apartment. Each wrapped in a towel, they both dug through their clothes until they managed to find pajamas that they felt comfortable in. Ezra had on a pair of flannel pants while Aria had stolen one of his t-shirts.

"We should probably eat something," Ezra said as they settled on his bed. "I haven't eaten all day."

Aria nodded and moved off the bed. She walked over to the fridge and opened it. There wasn't much to work with.

"How about ordering pizza?"

Ezra laughed, "in this storm?"

Aria looked out the window in the kitchen. The rain was still coming down hard. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She turned back to the fridge and then opened the freezer. There was ice cream and uncooked bacon.

"Do you _ever_ eat here when I'm not with you?" She commented.

"Not really," Ezra replied. "If you're busy, I usually grab something on the way home or eat at work."

Aria exhaled in a frustrated manner and turned back to the fridge. There was enough milk for macaroni and cheese.

"I guess we're going juvenile and eating mac and cheese and hot dogs."

Ezra chuckled. He walked over to her. "That actually sounds good. You know, for someone who eats takeout all the time."

Aria nodded, smiling. "Actually, I do. My parents always do these big meals, so the only time there's ever something this simple is when there's not anyone home to cook but little ol' me."

Ezra laughed. He grabbed pots from one of the cabinets while Aria cut the package of hot dogs package open and put them in one of the pots. She filled both with water and then settled them on the stove and then hopped up onto the counter. Ezra stood in front of her with his hands resting on the outside of her thighs.

"Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded, kissing her quickly. "Anything, baby."

Aria blushed at the pet name. He'd never called her that before. "What if my parents don't give us their approval _or_ keep me from you?"

Ezra furrowed his brow. "Are you insinuating that they would disown you?"

Aria shrugged. "I don't know. But I can't do this if they keep us apart, Ezra. It's been almost a year in this relationship. I can't lose it. I don't know what I'd do."

Ezra sighed as he poured the macaroni noodles into boiling water. "All we can do is wait and find out, Aria. But you will never be alone. And even if I can't see you, we'll always find a way to talk to each other. We always find a way."

Their conversation ended there and they both tended the food as needed while it heated up. When it was finished, they both made a bowl for themselves and then settled on the couch with it. They congratulated each other on managing to make a meal that didn't taste awful or end up burnt. Afterwards, they curled up together and watched a movie until they both started dozing off. At that point, Ezra grabbed the remote and shut the TV off and then carried Aria over to his bed.

They curled up against each other and Ezra kissed Aria's cheek as he wrapped his arms around her.

"No matter what happens tomorrow, always know that I love you."

Aria turned her head to look at him. "I love you, too."

_**-  
>I've been up all night, riding subway lines<br>**__**Now we're sleeping on your floor  
>- <strong>_

When morning reached them, Aria and Ezra rushed through their dawn activities to make sure each other had enough time to do all the things they needed to do before making it out the door. When they exited at 7 AM, possibly for the first time ever, they walked out of the apartment together, hand in hand. Of course, when they reached the front door, they released their grip.

Ezra dropped Aria's duffels into her back seat and then walked over to the driver's side door and kneeled down in front of it. She was sitting in the seat with the car not started yet.

"I hope you have a good school day," he told her.

Aria nodded. "I'll meet you here at four?"

Ezra nodded as well. "I promise you I'll be right there will you to do whatever it takes to make your parents realize this **is** right."

"Even if it doesn't seem that way," Aria whispered. She smiled sadly at him, knowing she was repeating words he had once told her.

"This has never felt wrong to me, Aria. I won't let it start now."

He pushed himself up and leaned over the doorway to kiss her goodbye. Aria kissed him back, holding him extra tight to her for a few extra seconds before she released him. Ezra closed her car door and waved to her before he walked off towards his own car. She watched and waited until he had started it before she started her own and backed out of her parking stall.

Aria headed out in one direction while Ezra headed in another, both headed towards where they needed to be. When Aria made it to school, she found a free parking space and then joined her friends in the hallway. They were chatting about Hanna's hand injury while texting people on their phones.

Aria pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans. She hadn't received any messages from her mother besides one from the night before, telling her to stay where she was for the night because of the storm.

"How was the rest of your night," Hanna asked when she'd finished her story. "Is Mr. Fitz okay?"

Aria nodded. "He's got a bad concussion. Doctor told him not to go to work for a few days, so he had to go in and post a lesson plan for the day. We're going to talk to talk to my parents later."

"Are you sure your dad and Mike won't beat him up?" Hanna chuckled. She quickly realized her mistake and apologized.

"If they lay one finger on him, I'll call the cops. He's injured enough as it is."

"Well hopefully- So I was telling Toby that he should've been more careful with the saw," Spencer said quickly, deviating the conversation. Aria and Emily gave her an odd look, but it was quickly explained when Mona and Ella walked up.

"Aria, can I speak with you for a minute?"

Aria looked to her friends and then nodded with a heavy sigh. She followed her mother to her classroom.

Ella shut the door behind them and then turned to face Aria. "I saw all your clothes gone. I hope that you'll come back home and discuss this with your father and I. We don't want you running away, Aria."

Rather than give her mother the satisfaction of letting her think she could persuade her, Aria just nodded. "I was already planning to come back today. I was angry about everything with Ezra and didn't want to be there with you guys."

Ella nodded. "I understand, Aria. But your father and I are only looking out for what's best for you. We just want you to be in the best and most safe possible situation," she said assuredly.

Aria shrugged, crossing her arms. She wrapped her fingers around the ends of the sleeves of the black cardigan she was wearing. "I disagree, but we can talk about that later."

Ella couldn't say anymore, because the bell rang, signaling for class to start. Aria made her way to her seat while her mother opened the door and allowed other students to pour into the room. Once they were inside, Ella began with the day's lesson plan. Aria paid little attention, checking her phone almost every five minutes to see if Ezra had texted her at all.

By the end of class, she was thoroughly annoyed, and hadn't paid attention to anything her mother was teaching. Once the bell rang, she burst out of her seat and walked out of the room without a word to her mother. She stopped off in the bathroom, ready to call Ezra. However, just as she was about to press send, her phone buzzed in her hand with a text message from him, alerting her that he was back home and going back to sleep. She texted him back and then made her way towards her next class.

After first period, Aria's day passed lazily. She paid more attention in her classes and managed to get more work done. Her mother caught her with her phone at lunch, but told her they'd argue about it later. Even so, Aria didn't care. She was so angry with her parents that what they wanted from her didn't rate very high.

At last bell, she made a bee-line for the door. She was already typing out a text message to Ezra when her mother stopped her, calling her name.

Aria groaned, staring at her mother with a bored expression. "_**What?**_"

Ella walked over to her. "I meant what I said yesterday. Even though you weren't home this morning, we're still going to and from school with each other."

Aria rolled her eyes and deleted what she had typed on her text message. Fortunately, she'd spent most of last period texting Ezra to make sure he was awake. Now she had to let him know to meet her at home instead of at school.

She walked out to her car with her mother, keeping a few feet of space between them as they walked. Ella was talking about the assignment she'd given for the day, but Aria wasn't giving her much mind. She kept her eyes on her phone; waiting for a reply that would tell her Ezra was clear on the plan.

Communication stagnated during the drive home as Aria ignored Ella, and Ella spent her time focusing on the road. It wasn't until halfway home that Ezra texted her back to tell her that he was leaving his apartment.

When Ella pulled up to the Montgomery home, Aria practically jumped from the car. She grabbed her book bag and walked up to the house, not bothering to wait for her mother. She walked inside and kicked her shoes off and then walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of juice.

Ella walked in a few minutes later, settling bags in the sitting room. She walked into the kitchen behind Aria. "Is this attitude going to end anytime soon, because you can be grounded."

Aria rolled her eyes once more. "Whatever. Ground me."

Ella opened her mouth to retort, but there was a knock at the door. Aria breezed past her and walked back to the foyer. She opened the front door, grateful to see Ezra there.

"Thank god," she murmured. "My day has been hell since I left this morning."

He gave her an apologetic frown and she opened the door wider to let him in. Ezra kissed her cheek as she pushed the door shut. Aria grabbed his hand and led him towards the sitting room.

Ella walked back through with a glass of water, but stopped cold when she saw Ezra.

"Ezra. What are you doing here?"

"We thought if you listened to us, maybe you-" Aria tried to speak.

Ella was fuming. "I don't need to listen to anything there is to say about the relationship you two have carried on. I've made it clear that it won't be tolerated any further. It ends **now.**"

Aria looked up at Ezra as tears filled her eyes. "Mom, please. Just listen."

Ella shook her head. "I deliberately told you not to talk to each other, Aria. I told you, what you're doing isn't legal or right. This ends now, or else."

"Mike and Dad beat the crap out of him!" Aria yelled. Angry tears rolled down her face. "I'm not asking for your permission or approval. I'm just asking you to listen to why we came to you in the first place!"

Ella walked over to them and pulled Aria's hand out of Ezra's. They exchanged a pained look at the loss off contact.

Aria glared at her mother as her eyes became glassy from the large tears pooling there. "I love him, Mom! It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did. Neither of us meant it to. But we love each other and it _feels_ right!"

"But it's **not,"** Ella argued back. She looked up at Ezra. "I'm sorry for what Mike and Byron did to you, but you need to go. You're not welcome here."

Audible sobs emitted from Aria as she tried to push past her mother. Tears were filling in Ezra's eyes as he watched her struggle against the woman who was telling them their relationship was over.

"I love you," she sobbed in hiccups. Her whole body heaved with each sob, which only further enticed Ezra's emotional pain as he looked back and forth from Ella to Aria.

Ezra got as close as he could to her and wrapped his arms around her, though Ella was still trying to keep them apart. Aria sobbed into his chest and clung to his shirt, repeatedly begging him not to leave.

He lifted her chin up and forced her to look at him. Aria's whole body shook from the level of emotion running through her.

"I love you. Never let them make you change what you know to be right," Ezra told her.

More tears filled Aria's eyes and began to run down her face as she reached up and pulled his head down to kiss her. Ezra kissed her back, holding her as tightly as he could, for as long as he could.

Eventually though, Ella pried them apart and ordered Aria to go upstairs.

Ezra and Aria stared at one another, both with tear-filled eyes as Ella yelled for Aria to leave the room. They knew that this was defeat. Aria repeated 'I love you' over and over again to him as her mother pushed her towards the stairwell. Each time she said it, he could feel his heart breaking more and more.

He watched her ascend the stairs, standing the foyer, and listened as she walked to her room. Not long after, her door slammed and a loud thump followed, quickly met with loud and raw sobs.

Ezra shook his head as he looked up the stairs and then at Ella. He choked on the large lump in his throat, struggling to get the words out.

"I would never do anything to hurt Aria. I never meant to have any of this happen. I never meant to fall in love with her, Ella. I tried to stop it. I tried to leave. But I love her, and I won't hide from her. If she comes to me, I'll be there for her. I'm sorry; I'm in love with your daughter. I can't take back those feelings. She's it."

Ella shook her head at him. "Aria is sixteen. She doesn't know anything about this world yet. I'm not sure what it is that drove her to you, or why you thought it was okay to let it happen, but it's done now. Leave."

Ezra knew there was nothing else he could say. He knew regardless of what came out of his mouth, there was no convincing Ella that he and Aria were right to be together.

He turned and walked out of the house, trying to be as quiet as possible. He didn't want to do anything to cause Aria more pain that she was clearly already feeling.

Up in her room, Aria had locked her door and shoved her desk chair under it to make sure no one could get in. She had her curtains blocking out the light, and her earphones tucked into her ears to block out all sense of sound. She had no intention of speaking with either of her parents. Fuck them. Fuck her homework that she had to get done. Fuck Mike for agreeing with her parents. Fuck everyone else who didn't see why she and Ezra should be together.

She lay curled up in her bed, holding his sweater that had been in her duffel since the night before, as tightly as she could to her chest. Her body was already physically exhausted, but the tears continued to flow. She couldn't stand the idea that this was actually the end.


	3. You're The Only One Who Ever Stuck

**A/N: **I wanted to note, if you follow my tumblr, then you know I've stated I'm not watching the second half of the season until it's over. While _part_ of that has to do with this story, the other part of it simply has to do with the angst. That said, **I'm doing my best to fit 'A' into the story.** I've tried my best to keep 'A' in mind, even though Ezria is the forefront of this story.

This story **does** mean a lot to me, guys. Your response has been overwhelming and amazing, and every review really does mean so much to me. I sincerely apologize if updates don't get up as quickly as they're asked for. Part of the reasoning is because I have a friend who proofreads and edits every chapter's typos and what not. The other part of that is so I don't post too many chapters at once and have no backbone incase I get behind. Also, I have no internet at home, so posting updates means going elsewhere. That's not much of a problem, but there may be times when I don't get an update up because of a snag like that. That said, forgive me if such an occasion **does** arise.

The social networking pages used in this chapter are fake, though, if you've seen The Social Network, you'll know it's based somewhat off the idea of Harvard Connection and facebook. SocialPage is also a term/brand/whatever I've used before in other stories.

Also, I apologize that this chapter isn't edited. I feel like you guys have waited long enough and I haven't heard back from my proof-reader. It's not his fault at all because I know he works and has his own life. Anyhow, I give you chapter 3. I love a lot about this chapter, so I hope you do, too.

**Disclaimer: **You'll quickly find out that I forget about these A LOT. I generally put them in the first chapter and then just forget about the rest, unless I use lyrics that are my own or someone elses. In the case of this chapter, the lyrics in the title are "In The Dark, I See" by Lights (love her. Kudos if you do too.) Wouldn't Change A Thing belongs to the writers of Camp Rock 2's songs. Recovery Begins belongs to Fireflight. The Riddle belongs to Five For Fighting. I have no affiliating with ANY of these people, companies, bands, etcetera.

Also, Aria's t-shirt DOES exist (the one referred to towards the end of the chapter). It's from Beau Bokan's clothing line Golden Hearts Shine Forever.

_Chapter 3_

_You Were The Only One _

_Who Stuck Around For Me When I Was Losing_

_Faith In What I Thought I Would Be_

Aria awoke late in the night. Her head and chest ached from crying, and her stomach was growling for food.

She rolled over, removing her headphones and placing her dead iPod on it's dock. A few seconds later, it lit up to let her know it was charging. The clock on it lit up as well. 3 AM.

Aria moved off her bed, rubbing her hair out of her face. She walked into the bathroom and dug through the vanity below the sink until she found moistened towelettes. She ripped open one of the small packages and then stood back up and proceeded to remove the makeup that managed to stay on her face. Once she had, she tossed the towelette into the trash and then ran warm water in the sink. When she found a comfortable temperature, she leaned forward and cupped her hands under the water, splashing some of it up onto her face.

She stood back up straight a few moments later and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked as miserable as she felt.

Aria turned and walked out of the bathroom, hitting the light as she did. She walked over to her book bag and rummaged through it until she found her cell phone. Her mother hadn't had the chance to take it from her when she had driven them apart earlier the night before.

She pushed buttons quickly, hoping for a call or text message from Ezra. Instead, she had calls from her friends, and text messages from her mother asking her to open the door. She sunk down onto her bed and set her phone on the nightstand.

Could she really expect him to call her? What was he supposed to say? It hurt her too much to even think about saying she loved him, when her parents wouldn't let her see him. 'I miss you' would only hurt that much more. Why say you're missing something you can't have? In a way, she understood it. Why talk at all, when talking without seeing each other or being able to _touch_ each other only brought more pain.

Aria placed her phone back on the nightstand and struggled to keep from crying again. She struggled to get her emotions in check, but once she managed to do so, she walked over to the door. She moved the desk chair back to the desk and then walked back over to the door and unlocked it.

She opened it slowly, peering into the hall. It seemed like everyone else was asleep. She walked out of her room, down the hall, and then down the stairs.

Aria walked to the kitchen and grabbed a clean glass from a cabinet. She walked over to the sink and filled the glass with water. She shut the water off and then turned around and leaned against the counter as she sipped from the cup. The crying had left her parched and possibly even dehydrated. She gulped down most of what was in the glass and then turned to refill it.

The light flipped on as she started to fill the glass. She jumped, dropping it into the sink. Though the sound was loud, it didn't break.

Aria peered over her shoulder and then turned around completely once she had filled up her glass of water. Ella was standing in the doorway wrapped up in a housecoat. She ran a hand through her hair.

"Nice to see you out of your room."

Aria ignored her mother, staring at her glass of water. She had nothing to say to her.

"Aria, talk to me, please."

Aria looked up at her and shook her head. She couldn't even voice her anger. She was too close to crying all over again from the afternoon's events. She drank her water and then refilled her glass once more.

Aria turned and walked towards the doorway. She made it all the way to the stairs before Ella grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Aria."

Tears glimmered in Aria's eyes. "You won't let me talk to him. You won't let me see him. He's everything that kept me sane after Ali's death, and after you left, mom. Even though he tried _so hard_to not let this become what it is. Or, was. Ezra loves me, mom, and I love him. And you're trying to strip that away with the reasoning that you don't think it's right. You only see what's on the surface of it all. A teacher and a student."

A whimper escaped Aria's throat. "You don't see how he listens to me when I don't know what to do. How he always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. You've never seen how he beats himself up because he **knows** there are people who wouldn't agree with this. Or how he talks in his sleep, asking for us to stay together.

"We came to you because we wanted to stop keeping this a secret. We figured you'd be angry, but we never expected this."

"Aria," Ella tried.

Aria shook her head. "You're taking him away from me, mom. I love him and you and Mike and Dad are taking him away. All I wanted was to be with him. I know I'm sixteen, but Ezra is what I want."

She stood in front of her mother, waiting for a response that wasn't coming. After a long minute, Aria shook her head and walked back up the stairs to her bedroom. She closed her door behind her and locked it once more. She walked over to her bed and settled her glass of water on her nightstand. She walked over to her desk and grabbed her laptop off of it, removing the plug from the wall

Aria walked back over to her bed and sat down on it, grabbing her headphones off the nightstand. She plugged them into the jack and then signed into her computer and loaded up her browser. At the same time, she opened up her instant messenger. She was quickly bombarded with offline messages.

**Hannabee1: Aria, where are you?  
><strong>**Hannabee1: Aria?  
><strong>**Hannabee1: Please answer your phone. We're worried.**

**HastyHastings: Please get online or answer your phone.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: We're really worried, Aria!**

**SwimmingFields: Aria?  
><strong>**SwimmingFields: I really hope you're okay, wherever you are.**

Aria clicked out the messages and looked at her Online list. The only person who still showed up as online was Spencer. Overachiever she was, she was probably awake doing some class paper. She must've been watching her list, because a private chat opened on Aria's window.

**HastyHastings: 3:30 AM? Where have you been?**

Aria stared at the screen for a long minute, not sure how exactly to reply. She didn't want to rehash the whole story and start crying again. Her fingers shook as she started to type.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: Bad fight. Fell asleep early. Sorry.**

She put the chat down onto her taskbar and opened up her HCL. Hollis College Link was the only place she and Ezra had ever safely traded e-mails and messages online. Because of her extension class at Hollis, she was able to get her own account a few months earlier. She signed into her account and then looked over her news feed.

Most of the posts on the feed were from girls she had met in her class. They were talking about the project that was coming up. They were all required to make a piece that could be used in everyday life. Aria was planning on making a stool for Ezra, covered in quotes and lyrics that he liked.

As she scrolled through her feed, she saw a post that he had made earlier in the afternoon.

_Ezra Fitz: Its not crazy. Damn I need caffeine.  
><em>_(linked) Listen to: Wouldn't Change A Thing by Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas_

_Aria gulped as she looked at the message over and over again. Caffeine was their own private joke because it seemed that every time Aria showed up on his doorstep she had coffee with her, and she was always drinking it, regardless of the time._

_Aria yawned as she walked into his apartment. "This day isn't going well already."_

_Ezra raised and eyebrow as she walked past him into the apartment. She had her arms crossed. He could tell she was frustrated._

_"I know we said we'd spend the day together today, but eight-thirty in the morning? What's up?"_

_He was only in a pair of pajama pants. He walked over to his dresser while Aria leaned against the couch._

_"My parents have been fighting non-stop over what to do about my brother. Hanna and I are arguing, and my coffee shop is closed because of some kind of kitchen mess they had last night. No good coffee until at least noon."_

_Ezra chuckled and pulled on the t-shirt he'd grabbed from one of his drawers. He grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and tossed them on the bed as he kicked off his pajama pants._

_"We can go get some from the store."_

_"I don't want to go anywhere," Aria whined. "Damn, I need caffeine!"_

_Ezra walked over to her once he had his jeans on. "Take a seat. I'll see what I have."_

_From the smile on his face, Aria could tell that he thought she was being irrational._

_"You think I'm nuts, don't you," she asked. _

_Ezra leaned over his counter in the kitchen and looked at her. "Aria, there is not one thing I would change about you. Crazy or not, I think you're perfect the way you are."_

Tears ran down her face as she shook out of her reverie, seeing the blinking message at the bottom of her screen. Aria moved her cursor down to it and clicked on it. The message showed up on her screen.

**HastyHastings: I'm so sorry, Aria.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: We were both crying when he left, Spence. I don't even know what to do.**

Aria looked back at her news feed while Spencer typed. She clicked on the song, and it began to play.

**HastyHastings: Wish I was there to hug you.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Me too.**

Aria paused as she listened to the song.

"_When I hold on, he just lets go  
><em>_We're perfectly imperfect  
><em>_But I wouldn't change a thing, no…"_

She clicked on her IM again.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: Remember that day that the café was closed from the kitchen mess? The story I told you?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Yeah. Something about Mr. Fitz said you were crazy. What about it?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Go look at my Hollis feed.**

More than once, Aria had given her friends the password to her page, mostly because she didn't feel safe showing them stuff over an IM or screen capping. A was a sneaky bitch who liked to get into their things, and Aria's Hollis page was one of the few things that A didn't seem to have found out about yet.

Even so, the only reason Hanna, Spencer, and Emily had the password was because Aria had written it down for them. They had all changed their passwords to random letters and numbers after A started causing trouble in their lives. They couldn't risk their secrets being posted on the web for the world to see.

Aria looked back to her feed and clicked on the post to see the comments people had posted.

_4 people like this. _

_**Mateo Carson: What's with the cryptic posts man? You workin' for the CIA now?  
><strong>__**Ezra Fitz: Yup, that's it. Trade secrets for the FBI. Haven't you noticed?  
><strong>__**Jackie Molina: LOL. Maybe it's about someone special.  
><strong>__**Adriana Fitz: Don't kid yourself. It's not you.**_

Aria couldn't help but laugh at the final reply. She had never met Ezra's sister, even though they had exchanged a total of four texts, once. Adriana had sent her a friend request after Ezra had explained that he had a girlfriend, but it was complicated. She was the only person that Ezra had ever told about their relationship.

**HastyHastings: HA! "Don't kid yourself. It's not about you."  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: I saw that. I can't stand her.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Mr. Fitz's sister?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGrey: No. Jackie.**

Aria clicked back on her page and went back up to the top of it. She clicked the messages icon. Just like her phone, there were no messages from Ezra. There were a few from girls in her class asking if she knew what she was making yet, and one from her teacher asking if she had figured out the budget for it.

Up at the top though, the last message received was one from Adriana. Aria clicked on it.

_Adriana Fitz: _

_Aria, _

_I just spoke with Ezra. Somehow the words to say something that might make either one of you feel better are almost nonexistent. I'm not sure when you'll see this, but I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I know that you both had decided it was time to tell your parents, and I commend you for it. I felt it was the right decision as well. _

_He told me about the situation with your brother and dad. I'm glad you were there to help him. I only hope maybe your parents will come around in time. I know Ezra loves you, and he won't just give that up because your parents say so. _

_Don't worry about Jackie. He'd never take her back. (If he did, I'd kill him.)_

Please be safe, and smart. Make good choices. I'm always here if you need to talk.

_Adriana_

Aria clicked on the reply button and opened a new message to her.

_Adriana, _

_Thanks for the message. Sorry it's so late, I fell asleep after he left yesterday. I really haven't figured out what to do about anything. My parents are so set in their decision, but not being able to see him is…. Honestly, its killing me. I really hope he's okay, even though the part of me that's in love with him hopes he's as hurt as I am. _

_Thank you for being there for him. I have at least my three best friends, so I'm glad he has you. _

_Stay in touch. Please tell Ezra I love him. And I'm sorry. _

Aria sent the message off and then returned to her main page.

**HastyHastings: Did you see he's awake too?**

Aria looked back to her news feed. Sure enough, Ezra had just posted.

_Ezra Fitz: A night with no sleep. Surprise, surprise. What to do with insomnia and a concussion? _

Aria gulped down the knot in her throat. She knew that the insomnia was because of her, regardless of whether he'd said it or not.

She clicked on her "Say something" bar and began to type:

_Aria Montgomery: _

_The times I hear you most  
><em>_Are when you bring me close  
><em>_I'll follow as you guide  
><em>_While darkness turns to light_

_It all comes down to this  
><em>_The crying in the end  
><em>_I listen for your voice  
><em>_Recovery begins…  
><em>_(linked) Listen to: Recovery Begins by Fireflight_

She hit the post button and then turned back to her IM.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: I hate this, Spence.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Message him?**

Before she could, she saw a comment on her post. Her stomach dropped as she saw that it was Ezra who had replied.

_Ezra Fitz: Whisper to me, whisper to me…Good song.  
><em>  
>Aria clicked on the square box that said "reply" in it. She wanted to say something so bad.<p>

Aria clicked his page and felt another knot rise in her throat as his picture became larger.

**HastyHastings: Try messaging him. What's the worst that could happen?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: He deletes it and never speaks to me again?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: You know Mr Fitz… Oh hell, EZRA loves you. Just do it.**

Aria clicked her browser again, and looked at Ezra's page. Another post showed up.

_Ezra Fitz: Here's a riddle for you/Find the answer/There's a reason for the world/You and I  
><em>_(tagged) Listen To: The Riddle by Five For Fighting_

Aria took a deep breath and then clicked on the small icon that said "Send Ezra A Message". For a long few minutes, she stared at the blank screen. What could she say? What was enough to make him understand she loved him?

Tears filled her eyes as she began to type.

"_You must give up the life you planned, in order to have the life that's waiting for you."_

_There's a reason for this world. You and I. _

_I love you. _

_I keep hearing conversations in my head that we had. I'm terrified I'll forget the sound of your voice. Your laugh. Your smell. _

_I have your sweater. And I wonder, how long until it starts to smell more like me than you? How long until it's gone. _

_I'm sorry. This is all my fault. _

She sent the message and then returned to her page and clicked on the "say something" box again. She began to type.

_Aria Montgomery: Never let them make you change what you know to be right. _

**ShadesOfGreyxx: I tried. I don't know if I can read if he replies. Read it for me first?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Sure.  
><strong>**HastyHasting: What's the new post?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: The last thing I heard him say.  
><strong>**Hasty Hastings: Oh. And look, a like on it already.**

Aria clicked on her page. Sure enough, Ezra had clicked "like this post".

A few minutes later, her message icon lit up bright red, alerting that she had a new message.

**HastyHastings: Going to read.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Aren't you tired yet?**

After a few minute wait, Aria assumed because Spencer was reading, she replied.

**HastyHastings: Been drinking coffee all night. Took a nap from seven to twelve. I'm great :D**

Aria chuckled to herself.

**HastyHastings: Besides, I had a paper to get finished. Lots of homework this week. Annndddd, Hanna, Emily and I agreed to take shifts. But because they're sharing a room, I said I'd take the after-midnight shift. Mostly because I fell asleep so early…  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Shifts waiting for me? I'm so sorry.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: No need to apologize. We love you. We wanted to be sure you were okay.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Message is safe for reading. Go ahead.**

Aria gulped and went back to her browser again. She clicked on the message icon at the top of her page. A moment later, her inbox was showing on her page. She clicked on the message entited _Re:Untitled_

_Aria,_

_I hoped I might hear from you tonight, even just to know that you are okay after this afternoon. _

_To be honest, to find the right words that don't hurt one of us, is probably one of the hardest things to do right now. _

_There is nothing more in this world that I wish for at this moment, then for you to be here so that I could hug you and take away the pain I know this is causing you. I do not believe for a second that what has happened is your fault. I do not blame you, either. In all honesty, there is a part of me that wants to find a spot where we went wrong, and go back to that._

_But we never really did go wrong, did we? _

_As you just reminded me, never let them make you change what you know to be right. _

_I know that you and I, that's what is right. And, as I told your mother tonight, I will not refute you. I will not shut you out. They might divide us, but they can't make us __**not**__ seek each other out. _

_The teacher in me says to tell you, never regret this. Never let go of your dreams. There will come a time when there won't be a choice for them to tell you no. I WILL wait for you, if that's what it takes. I'm not seeking approval from anyone but you. _

_You are the greatest thing that has ever been mine. _

_I love you too. _

_Ezra_

Aria stared at the message for several long minutes before she finally opened up a reply and started to type again.

_Thank you for answering back. It's hard to sit here too, knowing that the one thing that could make it better, I can't have. _

_Maybe there will be a chance to see each other Friday. _

_Alas, I have homework to do. Gonna be up for a while anyhow, so I might as well do it. I will talk to you soon._

With that final sentence, she sent off the message and then turned on the light on her nightstand. She grabbed her book bag from the floor and opened it up, pulling out a Geometry textbook and US History book. She opened both and began to work.

After a while, she looked up at her computer to see Spencer's IM blinking.

**HastyHastings: So?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Aria? Are you okay?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Aria? What's going on?  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Aria?**

Aria began to type frenziedly.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: Sorry! Figured I might as well do my homework. It's four AM and I've got nothing better to do.  
>HastyHastings: Alright. I'm going to get a few hours of sleep before school. Call me if you need me?<br>****ShadesOfGreyxx: Of course. Love you, Spence.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Love you too, Aria  
><strong>**HastyHastings is now offline.**

Aria went back to her newsfeed and clicked on her messages. Ezra had replied back just as she figured he would.

_Just let me know. Last class is at 1, so I'll make up an excuse to stick around._

_Good night, baby._

Aria couldn't help but smile. For the first time in days, happy tears filled her eyes. She signed out of her Hollis page and then closed her browser and opened up her iTunes. She set it on shuffle and then turned her attention back to her homework.

As she sat there, she scribbled through her geometry work and then did the few problems she hadn't finished for US History as well. By five, she had every bit of homework done except for what her mother had given. She knew logically that if she asked for an extension after the events from the night before, her mom would probably grant it. The only problem was the fact that Aria had nothing to say to either of her parents. Instead, she signed into her SocialPage. Unlike her Hollis page, this one only had her friends from high school added. She scrolled through the Rosewood High page for the homework postings for the week and found that her mother had assigned reading the first three short stories in a Greek Mythology book they had all been given, and then write a short summary on what it was about, as well as how it could trace back to your own life. Total, it was about forty pages, but Aria knew she could manage it before school.

She laid back in her bed and listened to the music play as she began to read.

At six AM, she had finished the reading given for homework and typed up the summary, as well as how it traced to her life. Not ironically, she traced the unleashing of Pandora's box to revealing her relationship with Ezra to her parents.

When she was finished, she sent it to the wireless printer on the first floor, and then got off her bed and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and then stripped off her clothes. Aria stepped into the shower and let the spray run down her face and hair first, washing away any remnants of makeup and tears.

Once she was comfortable under the water, she washed her hair and then her body. She rinsed off and then just let the spray run down over her body, letting it relax her muscles. She still had a bit of a headache from crying, and the shower seemed to help.

When she was finished, she stepped out and plugged in in her hairdryer. She quickly blow-dried her hair and then brushed it before unplugging the drier.

She walked into her bedroom with her towel wrapped around her and unlocked her door. She walked over to her nightstand and turned on her iPod base, letting it play Happiness by The Fray. It was the song that had been playing when she first met Ezra.

Aria walked over to her duffel bags, which she'd brought up when her mother had forced her up the stairs the afternoon before, and dug through it. She searched through the bigger one for a bit before she managed to find an ensemble she liked. She ditched her towel and slipped into undergarments and then pulled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a t-shirt that Hanna altered for her a few months earlier. It was a unisex shirt, and she had taken it in on the side and shortened the sleeves for Aria. Across the front, it read "I sold my soul for a heart of gold".

She walked back over to her bed and grabbed Ezra's sweater from it and pulled it on. She zipped it up halfway and then put her books in her bag and grabbed her phone off the nightstand where she had left it charging for the last few hours. She stuffed it into her bag and grabbed her iPod from the base and put it in her pocket.

Aria walked back into the bathroom and spritzed herself with some perfume and then put on a bit of makeup. When she felt satisfied with what she looked like, she walked into the bedroom and opened her top dresser drawer. She grabbed one of her beanie's and pulled it down over her head. As she was walking out of her bedroom, her phone buzzed, and then did again without delay, alerting her with two text messages.

The first was from Hanna.

"_Are you alright? Please say you'll be at school today."_

_-Hanna_

Aria replied that she would be and then opened the second one.

"_Have a good day. I love you."_

_-Ezra_

Aria struggled to keep the smile off her face as she sent a thank you back to him. She didn't want her parents to think that she was suddenly in a better mood. Hell, she was sure that before long they would have his number blocked from her phone.

Aria walked into the dining room and grabbed her homework off the printer. When she entered the kitchen, she settled her bag on the counter and then pulled a folder out and stuffed the printed pages inside. She made herself a small bowl of cereal and munched it down before getting herself a cup of coffee.

Ella and Byron walked into the room, and Aria knew almost immediately that her parents had been talking about her. Their voice level dropped dramatically, and suddenly they were talking about Mike's therapy sessions.

Aria finished off her cereal and then placed the bowl and spoon in the sink. She grabbed her keys off the fridge where they hung next to her parents keys.

"Ready to go?" She asked her mother. Ella nodded.

Aria grabbed her bag and then walked out of the house and over to her car. She still had enough time to stop and pick up a cup of coffee and something to eat before school started.

Ella joined her in the car a few minutes later along with Mike. Aria pulled out of the driveway once they were settled and buckled in and headed towards the café. When she pulled into a parking stall, she wasn't surprised to see Spencer there.

She walked inside, quickly flanked by her mom and stepped up behind Spencer.

"Get any sleep," Spencer asked her as she turned around.

Aria shrugged. "No. Got my homework done, though."

"Do you want to order together," she asked.

Aria nodded. "Mocha latté."

Spencer turned around and put her order in, and then Ella ordered as well. The barista totaled up the charges and then Spencer handed her a credit card.

"You didn't have to do that, Spencer," Ella commended.

"Its really no problem," Spencer replied. She stuffed her credit card back into her wallet and then put it in her bag. A few minutes later, the barista placed their cups on the counter. Aria hugged Spencer as a thank you and grabbed her cup.

"See you at school," Spencer said as they parted at their cars. Aria nodded.

She got settled back into her car and started it up again. The silence that had been there since they left the house continued on the drive to school. Ella tried to strike up conversation with Mike, but it was as stagnated as her conversation with Aria.

When they pulled up to the school, Mike dove from the car and walked off towards his friends. Ella waited until Aria was actually settled in her parking spot and had shut the car off. They both got out of the car and walked inside.

Aria quickly headed for her friends while Ella headed towards her classroom.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked.

Aria shrugged. She allowed each of the girls to hug her and then let them follow her as she walked to her locker.

"How is Fitz," Spencer asked softly as Aria stuffed books into her locker.

"As good as could be expected," Aria surmised. "He texted to tell me to have a good day. I think he's taking today off, too."

"What about tomorrow," Hanna asked. "Your class?"

Aria shrugged again. "Depends on if I can get away on my own. My dad doesn't have to work, but who knows what my parents will pull now. He said he would stick around as long as I told him that I'd be there."

"I'm so sorry, Aria." Emily said. "I feel so badly for the two of you. I know you really love each other.

Aria nodded, holding her cup of coffee in her hands. "We're not going to let this tear us apart. We'll find a way to make to it work."

"Can I ask what exactly happened last night? We were really worried." Hanna explained.

Aria nodded sadly. "He came over, and we tried to get my mom to listen to us, but she refused. We were both crying when he left. I don't think I've ever seen him cry before then. I just don't know how I'm going to get through today. I'm so used to being able to talk to him, at least on the phone.

"Why don't you go get an unregistered phone?"

Aria shrugged. "My parents would figure it out. It was hard enough not acting just a little bit happy when he texted me.

"You guys will figure it out," Spencer assured her. "In the meantime, we have to get to class. Did you guys get the homework done.

Each of the girls nodded.

"My mom won't like my reference to real life with Pandora's box, though," Aria said quietly.

"How did you make that work," Hanna asked.

Aria shrugged. "I compared telling my parents about my relationship to Pandora opening the box and releasing the sickness and what not, and said that the way she left love at the bottom of the box was like how my parents refused to see things from our perspective. They only would look at it from their perspective."

"Isn't that going to get your parents angry at you," Emily asked.

Aria shrugged. "What do I care? I don't want to talk to them anyway. Maybe then they'll leave me alone."

The girls walked into their class and made their way towards their seats. Aria pulled her folder from her bag and pulled the pages of homework from it. Kids were passing around a stapler, and she grabbed it from someone to staple her sheets together, and then passed it off to Emily.

A few moments later, a group of kids passed by her desk. Someone dropped a sheet onto it, face down. Aria flipped it over, ready to tell whoever had dropped it that it was theirs.

_**Better hope Mr. Fitz doesn't have any STDs and was safe. **_

_**-A**_


	4. If You Want To, I Can Save You

**A/N:** This chapter was very much so NOT on my side with writing. The words struggled to come out, and somehow, it didn't encompass the perfection that I wanted it to be. Either way, it had to be written. I hope it works well for you.

**Also, remember, your reviews are what fuel my fire to keep posting. Send them my way!**

_Chapter 4_

_If You Want To, I Can Save You_

Aria sank onto her bed, grateful for the school day to be over. Hanna and Emily had joined her at home for a while, while Spencer had stayed after school to help with one of the many committees she was on.

"Show me this e-mail he sent you last night," Hanna whispered as she sat down on the other side of Aria's bed. Emily was sitting in a chair about a foot away, texting Maya.

Aria chuckled and opened her laptop. She waited for it to load up while she pulled out her homework. There wasn't much besides more reading from her mother, and more math homework. Then again, when _wasn't _math homework given?

"Did you get any of the geometry done yet," Emily asked as she sat at the end of Aria's bed.

Aria nodded. "Just the start of it. Did you?"

Emily shook her head. "I didn't get it."

"I'll show you in a minute," Aria said as she loaded up her Hollis page. She furrowed her brow, seeing messages already in her inbox. She clicked on it.

One was from Adriana, who had replied to her message from the night before, and the other was from Ezra. She clicked on the message from Adriana.

_Aria,_

_I'm glad you got back to me so quickly! Never apologize for needing to talk. I'm happy you have your friends, but you can always talk to me as well. _

_I spoke with Ezra this morning before replying to this. (Should I be sending this from my psych class? Probably not…lol) He said you two got to talk to each other last night via e-mail. I'm glad you're finding a way to stay in touch. I whole-heartedly agree that this situation is completely unfair. For someone who only sees it from the surface, yes, it looks bad. _

_But when you see it from the inside, there is no way to say that it's wrong. Knowing Ezra, and knowing you the little bit that I do, I can't imagine wanting to see him with anyone else. I've never seen him so truly happy or complete. Of course, the opposite is true as well. I've never heard him sound so heartbroken. _

_I hope that this messy argument comes to a close quickly. Again, I'm here if you need to talk. _

"Who's Adriana?" Hanna asked.

"His sister," Aria said quietly. They had avoided saying Ezra's name at all costs since lunch when her mother had almost caught them talking about him.

She went back to her messages and clicked on Ezra's message.

_Hey. _

_I tried to get a hold of you earlier this afternoon, but your parents must've got my number blocked on your phone, because that's what it said. Anyhow, I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. I'm still so sorry about all this that's gone on in the last few days. _

_I love you. _

Aria groaned. She turned to Hanna. "Can I use your phone?"

Hanna furrowed her brow. "If I can read the messages."

Aria rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. She pushed her computer over as Hanna handed over her cell phone.

Aria picked her own cell phone out of her bag and scrolled through the numbers on her phone until she found Ezra's. She dialed it into Hanna's phone and then pressed the send button, lifting the phone to her ear.

After several rings, the line clicked over.

"_Ezra Fitz speaking." _

"Hey," Aria said softly. "I got your message."

"_Are you alright? You sound upset." _

Aria shrugged, even though he couldn't see her. She leaned back against her pillows. "No more than I have been since yesterday. Are you?"

Adriana was right. As Aria listened to Ezra speak, she could hear the sadness in his voice. It was odd. She wasn't used to seeing _or_ hearing him with such a sad demeanor.

"_I'm getting along. Going back to work tomorrow." _

Aria breathed in a deep breath as she listened to him talk. It was hard not to fall apart, listening to him. It served as a reminder of how horrible the day before was.

She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when her bedroom door opened. Ella was standing there.

"Can I get you girls anything?"

Aria shook her head.

"Aww," Hanna said.

"Hmm?"

"Something Caleb wrote on SocialPage," she lied.

Ella nodded. She looked back at Aria. "Who's on the phone."

"Spencer," Aria lied. "You understood that geometry homework, right?"

"_Sure, if that's the story you're going with," _Ezra laughed.

"Just wanted to make sure."

Ella nodded. She walked out of the room a moment later, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Sorry," Aria murmured.

"_Don't apologize. I just want you to be okay." _

Aria gulped past the knot in her throat. "I feel the same way."

"_I really hate to do this, but I have to go meet my sister for coffee. I'll see you tomorrow?"  
><em>

Aria exhaled a heavy breath. "Yeah. I love you."

"_I love you too, baby." _

Aria waited until the phone call ended and then dropped the phone onto the bed. She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. She dropped her head on her knees and wrapped her arms tighter as she began to cry.

Hanna and Emily turned their attention to Aria. Hanna pushed the laptop aside and Emily set her phone aside. They both moved to hug her.

"Hey, it's okay."

Aria shook her head, looking up at them. Tear stains tracked down her face, leaving black trails from her mascara. "It's _not_. I can't talk to him or see him. Everything I do, my parents are questioning where I'm going. They **blocked** his number from my phone. I can't….this hurts too much."

_**-  
>So the storm finally found me<br>**__**And left me in the dark  
>- <strong>_

Thursday evening passed with a dark cloud looming over Aria. Talking to Ezra online just didn't cut it like it did in the past. Not being able to see each other was pulling her apart at the seams. By Friday afternoon, she was aching to get to her class at Hollis, just so she could have time to see him.

Aria tossed her keys into the air as she walked to her car. Hanna had her arm looped in Aria's and Caleb was following close behind them.

"So if my mom calls-"

"_If _she calls, you're busy. If she calls again, I'll ignore it and then shut your phone off," Hanna said for her.

Aria nodded. "And call Ezra."

Hanna hugged Aria tightly. "I've got it. Don't worry. This is going to work."

Aria sucked in a deep breath. "It means a lot that you're doing this, Han. I don't know what I'd do without you guys."

Hanna pulled away a few seconds later. "We're doing it because we care, Aria. And we know that he treats you right."

Aria smiled. She couldn't help it. "Thank you. Thank you for believing in us, even if my parents don't."

"Always," Hanna said with a smile.

They hugged once more and then Aria turned and got into her car. She waved goodbye to Hanna and Caleb as she pulled her seat belt on, and then started the car. She put it into reverse and then headed off towards Hollis.

With each block that passed, Aria grew increasingly restless. Her fingers drummed the wheel with the need to see Ezra. It seemed that each road brought a red stoplight. She fiddled with the radio, but nothing of her interest seemed to be playing. It was only when she heard something that caught her attention that she stopped.

"_happiness feels a lot like sorrow  
><em>_let it be, you can't make it come or go…"_

She felt a sense of relaxation wash over her as the song played. To hear the song she had heard when she first met Ezra reminded her so much of how surprised she had been when he had even said anything to her. She had only intended to do something to pass the time. Meeting Ezra had been so far from what she was expecting.

She remembered how when she had looked over at him, she had been so taken by his eyes. The soft and inviting feeling that she had gotten just from looking into his blue orbs had made her feel a vulnerability she had never felt before. There had been several times in Iceland that she had come close to hooking up with a guy that she had dated for several months while she had been there, but even he had never brought her that feeling.

It was one of the reasons being away from Ezra was so hard. He brought out things in her that were so far away from anything anyone else could do. He always knew what to say or do, if it could make her tears stop. And if it couldn't, he was there to hug her. He never blamed her for what couldn't be.

Aria pulled into the Hollis parking lot. She spotted a space near his door in the student parking lot and pulled into it. She shut the car down and then grabbed her bag out of the passenger seat and then got out of the car and headed towards the door.

Once she was inside, a desperate need to stop and see him started to burn inside of her. She badly wanted to, but she knew that if she did, her parents would likely find out and she'd be in even more trouble.

Instead, she headed off towards her art class. When she arrived, some of the girls were already there. Aria headed over to her small cubby and pulled her box open. Inside it laid a note. Aria gulped and reached for it cautiously. Fortunately, it was only from her teacher.

"_Come to me for your supplies.  
><em>_I can't possibly fit them in here :)"_

Aria pushed the box back into it's space and walked up to the table. Her teacher waved to her as she finished chatting with another one of the students and then turned to her.

"Follow me."

She waved Aria back into her office and pointed to her desk. Four four-by-four inch, three foot long legs of wood rested on the table, along with an 18 inch, four inch thick square of wood. "For your project."

Aria smiled at her thankfully and picked up the piece that would be the actual seat before picking up each of the legs.

"I managed to get you some time down in the wood lab to get everything carved out. After you're done, cutting everything, you can bring it back here to work on."

She grabbed a key card off her table and handed it to Aria. "Good luck."

Aria took the key card gratefully and walked out of the room. She walked over to her table long enough to pull out a piece of paper and a pen and scrawled out a quick note before heading out of the room.

The walk across the campus was at least five minutes. Fortunately, it passed by Ezra's office, which granted her the chance to offer him a choice to join her, or at least walk her down. She headed towards his office with her hand gripped tight in her hand, just behind the key card. When she reached the door, she was glad to find it closed. She wasn't sure it was because he had stepped out, or if it was because he was resting. Still, she slipped the note into the space between the window and the wood, and then walked out the door at the end of the hall.

She crossed the courtyard quickly as a cold breeze had started to come down over the city. The door to the woods department was almost directly across from the arts department, which led her in a straight path. She struggled a bit when she got to the door that led to woods, but she managed after a moment.

Once she was inside, she made sure she had the card facing the right way for the room she was headed to. She had her Hollis ID hanging out of the pocket of the white t-shirt she was wearing, with her picture showing. It was loose and see-through, but also comfortable, and went well with the black, lacy skirt she was wearing. Her tights had the same design as her skirt, but the black, light cardigan she was wearing didn't bring much warmth.

As she walked up to the door, she noticed the lights weren't on. She slipped the card into the automatic lock and then punched in the master code that her dad had given her so many years earlier for the building. The door clicked and then opened. She retrieved the card from the door and then pushed it open.

The room smelled of sawdust. She almost choked as a fleet of dust blew up into her nose on her first breath, but managed to calm herself. She walked over to the first spare table and set down her wood before opening her bag.

In it was a number of things. First was safety glasses and gloves. She'd also slipped a hair clip in there for her hair, which she'd left down.

She leaned down and unzipped her mid-calf boots and then settled them on one of the regular stools and then reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of regular sneakers. She slipped them on one by one and tied both tightly.

By that time, there was a knock at the door. Aria looked up, fully dressed to use the machines, and blushed when she saw Ezra standing there, leaning against it. He was smirking at her.

She opened her mouth to say something about him being so quiet, but he strode over the few feet between them and opened his mouth against hers, brushing his tongue against her bottom lip. Aria wrapped her arms under his and kissed him back with just as much fervent need. As they kissed, she leaned flush against him, taking in all of his scent and feeling.

They only parted a few moments later for the need of oxygen. Aria rested her head against his.

"I hate this."

"Me too," he replied softly. "Can I help?"

Aria shrugged. She turned around and looked at her wood. Ezra pulled her against him and tucked his thumbs into the waistband of her skirt.

"Do you know how to cut circular a sixteen inch stool seat?"

Ezra nodded. "I took woodshop for two years. You got spare gloves and glasses?"

Aria pulled his hands up off her skirt and stepped away from him. She quirked her eyebrow at him. "If I get caught cheating-"

"So we won't make it perfect," he teased. "I'll get the router and the jig. You get an extra pair of gloves and glasses."

Aria crossed the room and opened the supplies cupboard that held the glasses and gloves. She pulled out a pair of men's gloves and a pair of glasses before walking over by Ezra. He'd grabbed all the wood and brought it over to a machine. Aria stood by as he settled the jig into the saw and then made sure the wood was secure on the table before he began to move the table saw. Aria stood and watched as he cut the edges away, an carved a sixteen inch circle. Once it was perfectly carved, he shut off the saw.

"Thanks," Aria murmured.

Ezra nodded. "What about the legs?"

Aria shrugged, looking across the room. "I have to drill holes for screws and cut holes for the legs in the seat. You better not ever sit on this thing when it's finished."

Ezra chuckled. "I'll put it in a shrine."

Aria walked back over to the table where she had dropped her things and grabbed the pieces of wood meant to be turned to legs. She walked over to one of the drills and got it set up and turned on and then, one by one, proceeded to drill a two inch hole for screws in each leg.

Once she was finished, she walked back over to the table. Ezra had brought a bag with him, which was filled with papers. He had started going through one, though he was holding a red pen in one his hands while he read it.

Aria sat down in a stool across from him and removed her gloves and glasses and placed them on the table. She opened her bag again and pulled out several sheets of sanding paper, and grabbed the stool seat. She began sanding the top, being careful to keep her arms and hands free from catching on it.

The two of them worked silent and diligently for the remainder of the class hour, at which time, Ezra's phone went off. He shut off the alarm and then began packing up his things while Aria did the same. She'd just barely gotten the top of the stool seat done, and there would plenty to do over the next few days.

Once everything was back in its proper place and Aria had her boots back on, they exited the room together. Aria shut the door and locked the door. They walked towards the exit.

"How was school," Ezra asked.

Aria shrugged. "Boring. I have to write a paper for science on anatomy, explaining how the autonomic nervous system affects everything. Oh, and my mother is _not_pleased that I compared our relationship to Pandora's box."

Ezra furrowed his brow at her as they stepped out into the cold. Aria shivered. It had gotten colder. She tightened her arms around her things. He pulled apart his own sweater that he was carrying and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Pandora's box?"

She looked up at him. "How opening the box released all of the sins, but left love at the bottom."

Ezra nodded slowly. "So instead, they only saw it for how it was wrong, instead of how it might be right. I get it."

They reached the door to the art department a few moments later, and he opened the door before, and then took his sweater from her shoulders. They walked towards her class, discussing little more than what she had been working on in school. As they entered the hall where her class was, Ezra stopped.

"I think I should wait for you in my room."

Aria considered what he was saying for a moment and then nodded. The last thing they needed to do was ruffle feathers with more people. She leaned up and kissed his cheek and then walked back to the art room.

A few of her classmates were still tucking their things away. The teacher looked up as Aria walked in.

"How'd it go?"

Aria nodded with a smile. "I have a lot of sanding to do, but all the cutting has been done."

"That's great," the teacher replied. "You'll be in to do work next week?"

Aria nodded. She knew that she would have to come in during the week when she didn't have class so that the project could get finished. "I have to go, though. Lots of homework, you know."

Her teacher nodded. She waved to the few girls how saw her and then walked out of the room. She turned down the end of the hall, but headed in the opposite direction of where her car was. She walked down to Ezra's classroom. The door was open.

She walked in, only to see that he wasn't inside the room. The bathroom door was closed, and she wondered for a brief moment if he was in there.

"Ezra?" She walked into the room and closed the door behind her, chewing on her lip as she did. She jumped as hands grabbed her waist and whipped her around. All at once, his hands were on her hips and his mouth upon hers. Aria wrapped her arms around his neck and Ezra backed them up until her waist slammed into his desk.

He picked her up and settled her on top of it. Aria pulled him closer to her, and he bit down on her bottom lip. Blood dripped off, but Ezra quickly licked it away and then pulled away from her.

"That hurt," Aria chuckled softly.

"Sorry," Ezra murmured. He nuzzled his face into the side of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

"This smell has been on my pillow for days. It's the only thing that's kept me sane."

Aria closed her eyes and leaned into him. The sentiment of what he was saying meant a lot, but so did the reality of what those words meant.

"I don't want to leave," she said quietly. She sucked lightly on her bottom lip, brushing her tongue against the small wound he had created. She rested her head against his shoulder and inhaled deeply, smelling his cologne.

"Rushing out of here," Ezra asked in a concerned manner.

Aria shook her head, pulling back so that she could look at him. "Not at all. I just don't want to leave at all."

He lifted her chin and kissed her lips. "No one is pushing you out of here. We'll figure it out."

Aria exhaled heavily and her shoulders dropped her shoulders. "Can I ask you something?"

Ezra nodded. "Hmm?"

Aria recoiled somewhat, pulling her hands down into her lap. She looked down at them. "The other night, when we were together…"

Ezra furrowed his brow. "Are you worried about something?"

She looked up at him nervously. "I'm sorry. It's just… you're clean, right?"

Ezra chuckled, but Aria could hear the sense of insult behind it. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry for asking, I'm just… scared."

Ezra cupped her cheek in his hand and shook his head. "I would never do that to you, Aria. And excuse the name, but before you, I hadn't been with anyone since Jackie."

Aria grimaced. "I trust you. All of this stuff terrifies me, though. My parents pulling us apart, not knowing when I'll see you again…"

Aria trailed off, feeling a knot rise up in her throat. She wanted to tell him about the note 'A' had given her. About how, for as much as they tried to stay a secret, they hadn't. How 'A' always seemed to know everything that was going on.

"I'm not going anywhere, Aria. I'll always be here for you."

He leaned in and kissed her. Aria kissed him back and moved her hands up to his tie. Ezra pulled her to the edge of the desk as she loosened the knot until she had the two strands pulled apart. She moved her hands to the buttons of his shirt and began to pull them apart.

Ezra wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up off the desk. He walked backwards until his legs hit the couch in his room, and dropped against it. Aria pushed his shirt apart as she managed to get the last button undone, and pulled Ezra up into a sitting position as she wrapped her arms around him. She ran her fingers under the burgundy t-shirt he had on under the button-down.

"I should've thought better than to trust you to come here just for class."

Aria jumped and detached her lips from Ezra's at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Mom-"

"Ella, we-"

Ella shook her head, raising her hand to them. "You two were told distinctly to stop seeing each other. That this was **over**. And yet here I find you."

Aria moved tentatively off of Ezra's lap and stood. She straightened her skirt. "I won't stop seeing him. Every minute **without** him is killing me."

She stared down her mother with complete and utter honesty. As sure as she was that her parents weren't going to let down their walls, she wasn't willing to either.

Ella shook her head at Aria. "You are not welcome in my home while this relationship continues. You have no family from this moment forward. Your things will be given to you, tomorrow. If you're so sure that you can be an adult, I'd like to see you try. Goodbye, Aria."

Ella looked to Ezra for a brief moment and then nodded to the two of them and walked away.

Aria stood there, frozen. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her, and it hurt too much to even try breathing in a breath.

"Aria, are you okay?"

Ezra stood and walked over to her, wrapping an arm around her back.

She looked up at him, shaking her head, still in shock. "She just… I can't go home. Because I love you?"

Ezra gulped. He could see how this was hurting her. "Aria, maybe we should-"

She cut him off, shaking her head furiously. The pain was quickly gone. "No! I won't give this up, Ezra. I'll make them see what we have. _Why _this is right. I have to. There isn't any other choice."

Ezra sat back down on the couch, shaking his head. "There is, Aria. We don't _have_ to do this. **You** don't have to do this."

Aria looked down, into his eyes. She could see the turmoil and pain in his own eyes. She shook her head, sitting down in his lap.

"The alternative being that I suffer every day that I'm not allowed to talk to you or see you? I can't do that, Ezra. These last few days have been hell. No, I'll make my parents see why this is right. Why it's meant to be."

Ezra lifted his hand to her face. He wrapped it gently around the side of her neck and face, brushing his thumb against her temple.

"And what if that doesn't happen?"

Aria shrugged, her brown eyes bright with abandon. "Then I never speak to my parents again."

She intertwined their fingers and rested her head against his, closing her eyes. "I will make my parents understand this, Ezra, if it's the last thing I do. They can't possibly mean it when they say they love me if they can't understand why I love you. There's nothing that means more to me. You _are_ my future."

"_Aria_," he drawled tentatively. "Be careful. I don't want you to lose your family because of me."

Aria stood, and Ezra stood along with her. She crossed her arms at him.

"Would you rather the alternative? I never see you again?"

"No, but-"

Aria cut him off, shaking her head. "There isn't any but about it, then. My family isn't exactly conservative, Ezra, but this…They mean it when they say they'll do everything to keep us apart. Given the option, they will. Are you with me, or not?"

He shook his head. He knew her mind was made up. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

She leaned into him and exhaled hard. Her shoulder shook once with a sob that wanted badly to escape her chest. "Good. Because I need you."


	5. Put A Little Sunshine In My Sky

**A/N: **Totally could've waited to post this tomorrow because I'll be online then too…but I wanted to share this. Instead, I bring you chapter 5. I apologize for all typos... Editor and I are having unfortunate e-mail issues, and I'm so lazy about editing...

Adriana comes up in this chapter. If you know who Lights is, that's who I had in mind for her visually. If you don't know who she is, google/bing her!

**Your thoughts and reviews are appreciated! Remember, your reviews inspire me to write more. **

_Chapter 5_

_Come Morning Light_

Aria and Ezra each got out of their own cars, and paired up at the door. He opened the door for her and then stepped in behind her, stopping at the mailboxes. He flipped through his keys and then stuck one into a slot and turned it. The small door opened and he pulled out several envelopes. At the top rested a folded piece of paper. He read it over and then turned his wrist, looking at the watch he had on.

"Crap."

"What," Aria asked wearily.

"I'm so late," he replied, grabbing her hand. They speed-walked to his apartment as he explained.

"Adriana is here. We're supposed to be having dinner. I forgot to tell her I was going to be at Hollis with you."

Aria nearly tripped as they raced down the halls to his apartment. When they finally reached his hallway, she spotted a brunette girl sitting on the floor. She had a large textbook resting on her legs, and she was reading it hungrily.

"I'm _so_sorry," Ezra gushed. "I, um…well?"

Adriana looked up as Ezra looked back at Aria, who was still staring at Adriana.

Adriana stood from where she was sitting and closed her book. "This is Aria?"

Aria nodded nervously, extending a hand. "Aria Montgomery."

Adriana smiled and tossed her book at Ezra. She launched a hug onto Aria. "It's so good to finally meet you!"

Ezra gulped as a gush of air rushed out of him; the hit from the book just a little too much for his ribs. Aria smiled apologetically at him and he shrugged. He shifted the book on his arm and then stepped up to his apartment door and unlocked it.

"Ladies?"

Adriana released Aria and took her book from Ezra. She walked into the apartment, and then Aria followed the both of them inside. Aria toed off her shoes while Adriana launched herself at the couch. Aria watched her.

She was a tiny girl, barely more than skin and bone. By the looks of her frame, you'd almost think she was sick, though that was far from the truth. Her chocolate brown eyes bored into Aria and Ezra, waiting for an explanation.

Ezra settled everything he was holding on the table and then proceeded to open his mail.

"I forgot to tell you I was staying late tonight," he replied. "We met up at Hollis."

"And your parents," Adriana asked. "Are they okay with this now?"

Aria exchanged and glance with Ezra and then walked over to the couch and sat down on the opposite end as Adriana.

"No. They, um… They said I'm not welcome in their home."

Adriana gaped at her. "Wow. That's harsh. Do you think they're serious?"

Aria nodded, chewing lightly on the side of her bottom lip. "I'm sure of it."

Small talk ensued for a while after that, and eventually Adriana left Ezra and Aria for the night. By that time, it was nearing midnight, and Aria was exhausted. Ezra joined her as she slipped between the covers of his bed, and they laid in silence and darkness.

After a while, she could hear the softness of his breathing evening out as sleep took over his body. Aria ran her thumb against his knuckles as she stared out one of the windows of his apartment. Water was slapping against the windows as a storm tried to carry on outside. It brought a noise to the apartment that comforted Aria. At least she wasn't left in total silence.

She gently moved Ezra's arm off of her waist and slipped out from under the covers. With only one of his t-shirts covering her body, a shiver ran through her. She felt around the floor until she found a pair of discarded pajama pants. She pulled them up over her legs and then walked over to the kitchen.

Coffee still sat warm in the percolator from earlier in the evening. She grabbed a discarded cup from the sink and dumped out the cold, leftover contents before pouring herself a cup.

Aria walked over to the window. It was one of two in the apartment; the other was in the kitchen, looking out into the parking lot. It was small and square.

The one she stood in front of was a bay window. There was a sill large enough that she could sit inside of it.

She placed her cup on the sill and then crawled up onto it and grabbed her cup. She extended her legs out in front of her and watched water slap against the panes. Large streaks of lightning shot across the sky more than once as she sat there.

A large knot was putting a weight in her throat. She was sitting in the home of the one person she wanted to be with more than anything, but she still felt like there was a superior loss in her heart. Not being able to see or talk to her brother or her parents just didn't feel right.

She knew that the decision came down to one or the other. Either she picked her family and lost Ezra, or she picked Ezra and lost her family. There wasn't another way around it, because her parents wouldn't let there be. Even so, how was a girl to find her way, and figure out which choice was the right one. She knew that for as much as she was an adult, she was still only sixteen. There were still things that, regardless of how much of the world she had seen, she didn't understand. There were certain things that a person just learned as they grew and aged.

Aria turned her head and looked over at Ezra. Lightning shot through the sky and illuminated him for a brief moment, before it was almost pitch dark again. She could see him lying in his bed; watch as his chest rose and fell with each pained breath from his injured ribs.

It was hard for her to swallow the fact that it had been her own brother and father to do that damage. The two men who she counted on in her life, had abused the only man she could see herself with. They hadn't just hit him; they had left permanent injuries on him.

Sure, the bones would heal, but they would never be one hundred percent perfect, as they had been before. The cuts would seal over, but there would always be a thin scar there, leaving a light reminder of what had been.

For the first time in her life, Aria couldn't see her future. She couldn't figure out what was next. For so long, she had known so clearly what every day brought, and what it was leading up to. A little more than fourteen months, and she would be free of high school. Hopefully by then, she would be free of 'A' as well.

She had already started applying to colleges, with Ezra in the forefront of her mind. Hollis was at the top of her list, along with several local schools. She'd also considered Penn State. Anywhere that was close enough to be with him if things lasted, and far enough to escape if they fell apart.

Now, though, it crossed her mind that she didn't know where her life would be in one week. There was too much to consider. What if her parents really didn't let her come home? What if they really never wanted to speak with her again? Did that mean she was cut off? Would she have to find a job?

What if Ezra didn't want her to live with him?

She took a sip from her coffee and tears ran down her face with all the worried thoughts running through her mind.

Should she speak to a lawyer? Was emancipation an option? What about school? Would she be able to help make ends meet on a minimum-wage part-time salary?

Would 'A' try and hurt Ezra now that Aria wasn't with her parents anymore?

Aria set down her coffee and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. She sucked in several gulps of air, trying to get a hold on herself. She could feel a panic attack trying to build within her. She was becoming frenzied with worry over things she couldn't control.

Aria pressed her back against the cool wall behind her and closed her eyes as tears ran down her face.

"Aria?"

Ezra's voice was thick with exhaustion. She opened her eyes and looked up. He was sitting up on the edge of the bed, looking over at her.

"Are you alright?"

Aria nodded, quickly reaching up to wipe away the tears on her face. "Yeah. Are you?"

Ezra pushed up off the bed and walked over to her. He placed his hand on her cheek. Aria leaned into it. Involuntarily, a tear escaped her eye and fell against his hand.

"What's wrong," he asked. He perched on the edge of the sill next to her.

Aria shrugged, turning back to look out the window. "I'm scared, Ezra. What if my parents really never want to see me again? What if the last thing either one of them ever says to me is how they don't want me to be with you?"

"Aria." There was unwavering pain in his voice. It drove a knife straight through her throat and cut through her heart, down into her belly.

She couldn't bear to hear him hurt that much. "I don't-"

Ezra cut her off. "Every time I try to say this, you stop me." He brushed his thumb over her lips. "I know you don't want to consider it, but maybe the better choice is to end this. Maybe the right thing to do is for you to go home and wait out the next year. The day you turn eighteen-"

"**No**," Aria stammered. "Ezra, I don't know how anything is going to be okay in the next few months, or how anything is going to go, but what I do know is that it won't happen by ending this. Walking away from this is **not** the way to make people see what is right. It's bowing down to what they want."

"Fine," Ezra conceded. "But if the alternative is watching you suffer like this, then I refuse to. We're going to have to find a different way around it. I don't care what it takes. I can't watch you like this much longer."

Aria took a deep breath and then leaned forward and kissed him. Ezra slipped his tongue inside her mouth as he brushed her hair out of her face, and wiped away remaining tears on her face.

"I love you," he said when they parted. He looked her clear in the eyes with full determination for her to understand him. "Regardless of where that takes us."

Aria rested her head against his shoulder.

"Can we sleep now," he asked softly.

Aria nodded, and took his offered hand as he stepped off the sill. They walked back over to the bed, and he walked around the side of it while she got into the side nearest to the rest of the apartment. She reached over and retrieved her iPod from her open bag on the nightstand and turned it on. She placed on of the earbuds in her ears and then scrolled through until she found the song she was looking for.

After a few seconds, Ezra picked up the earbud that she hadn't taken and listened as she settled the iPod under a pillow.

"_Could I forget the look that tells me that you want me_

_And all the reasons that make loving you so easy_

_The kiss that always makes it hard to breathe_

_The way you know just what I mean_

_No, I can't learn to live without_

_Oh, so don't you give up on us now_

_Oh, I know I could say we're through_

_And tell myself I'm over you_

_But even if I made a vow_

_I promise not to miss you now_

_And try to hide the truth inside_

_I fail cause I, I just can't live a lie…" _

_**She can mend her wings so that they fit under her jacket**_

Aria slumped back against Hanna's bed as she waited for her phone to turn on. Ezra had papers to grade, and she had a project with Hanna to work on, so they had split up for the afternoon. She was also planning to try and talk with her parents, but getting her things from them was a last resort.

"Have you guys decided what you're doing for this project," Emily asked.

Aria shook her head, lifting her phone to her ear as she waited for her messages to start playing. "Probably a paper or something, with footnotes to give a speech about."

"Can't we do a diorama," Hanna whined.

Aria raised an eyebrow at her as she deleted a message from the phone company. "Really? You want to spend thirty dollars on paint and cardboard, and six hours on cutting and pasting? A paper will take half that time."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "I guess. But with research-"

"Like you actually do the research," Spencer teased.

"I learn," Hanna insisted, though there was a laugh in her voice.

Aria clicked the end button on her phone. "Hanna, last week you asked if the Mars Rover was next year's model for the Range Rover."

Hanna blushed. "I was _joking_," she insisted.

The other girls laughed and shook their heads. Emily turned her head as her phone chimed.

Aria opened her computer and loaded it up. "Text from Maya, Em?"

Emily shook her head as she exhaled a frustrated sigh. "No. 'A'. He or she doesn't approve of Maya's return. _It's_threatening to send my parents the real Danby letter if I don't tell Maya about Samara."

"'A' is determined to leave us all in eternal misery," Spencer groaned.

"Did your parents call at all last night," Hanna asked.

Aria shook her head while she opened up a browser. "I tried calling this morning, but my mom wouldn't answer. Neither would Mike. I got a text from my dad, but all he said was that my mom would bring me my 'things'."

"Are you okay with that," Hanna asked.

Spencer and Emily gaped at her.

"_What!_"

Aria shook her head, chuckling at the girls reaction. "No, I'm not. I don't see why my parents can't just accept what is. I don't want to be torn between my family and my boyfriend. I don't know how to make them understand, though. Every time I try, they just shut me down."

She looked back to her computer, which had her Hollis page open by default. "What the hell?"

"What?" Hanna, Spencer, and Emily asked simultaneously.

Aria clicked something on her screen.

_Ezra Fitz: The shit that people pass around. Whatever. _

_(linked) Click Here: Late-Breaking News: Student-Teacher Relations Spike - Hollis Press_

Aria clicked on the page and began to read aloud.

"_Everyone's heard a story like it. Everyone knows someone whose done it. And yet it's not morally ethical. In fact, it goes against the student and teacher's code of ethics signed every year. _

_Student-Teacher relations are meant to stay within the classroom, and not move any farther than that. Student-Teacher relations are meant for academic purposes only. _

_Talk is surfacing and rumors have spread far and fast across campus of more than one Student-Teacher relationship outside of the classroom. Any information brought forth will be investigated thoroughly, and may lead to suspension, expulsion, and disregard for any recommendations previously agreed upon. _

_Students and faculty with information are asked to come forward. Your information will be anonymous. _

_No one is omitted until further notice. - Hollis Board of Directors."  
><em>

"Whoa."

Aria exhaled heavily and dropped her head into her hands. "I can't handle all this crap."

"Can they really do anything to you," Spencer asked. "I mean, technically, you're not his student. Yeah, your class is for credit, but you're not a Hollis student beyond your extension course."

"Even if they can't," Aria replied. "They could still tell the police."

Hanna leaned over and tapped the touchpad on Arias computer, looking at the posts in the feed.

"A lot of people are reposting it with their own comments. Listen to this. Emma Peters says _'total crap. As long as no one's cheating or getting a pass on a failed grade, what's the big deal?'_"

Aria looked up nervously at the page. Sure enough, one of the girls from her art class had in fact posted.

"Oh, my god. I'm gonna kill that bitch."

Aria furrowed her brow at Hanna. Hanna pointed at the screen.

_Ezra Fitz: What's the difference if two people are together and happy? Who said your opinion was the standard we all rest on?_

_**Jackie Molina: Hope she isn't a slut.**_

_**Mateo Carson: You've really gotta let me in on all these FBI secrets, man. **_

_**Ezra Fitz: Wow. Jealousy. Mateo - Lets meet for coffee. **_

_**Adriana Fitz: Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black… Careful, Mat. Last night he left me on his doorstep for over an hour. **_

_**Ezra Fitz: You could've called. **_

_**Jackie Molina: You give yourself far too much credit. **_

_**Ezra Fitz: Take that and chew on it for a second. Consider it. And then spit it back from whence it came. Bitter truth is a bitch. **_

_**Adriana Fitz: Now, now, teach. Take a deep breath. No need to ruffle feathers in front of the students. **_

"I think I just developed a new-found love for Mr. Fitz," Hanna chuckled.

"Glad to know she thinks I'm a whore," Aria said bitterly.

Spencer looked to Hanna. "Be careful. Wouldn't want Mrs. Montgomery to cockblock you and 'Z', too."

Aria rolled her eyes at Spencer, but she smiled anyway. A moment later, all four of the girls were laughing, and Spencer prided herself in being able to lift Aria's mood, even if it was just a little bit.

"I think I going to use that as my new comeback with Melissa," Spencer chuckled a moment later. "Bitter truth is a bitch. Chew on that."

Aria smiled at her as the last of her chuckles escaped her. She opened a fresh page, and the room seemed to grow quieter as the four girls got down to business. Hanna and Aria were to develop a project of their choosing, on any major event in US History. They had decided on the Civil War's end. Specifically, they were writing about Lincoln's assassination. Spencer and Emily in the meantime, were planning a paper as well, but they had decided to cover the 1991 terrorist attacks instead.

Work was only interrupted when Ashley knocked on the door a few hours later. The girls had most of their work compiled. They all looked up at her standing at the door.

"I ordered pizza," she said as she walked in. "Pepperoni and sausage for Aria and Spencer, and Half cheese, half anchovies for Hanna and Emily. Did I get it right," she asked.

Each of the girls nodded as she placed the boxes on Hanna's desk. Ashley settled a bag next to the bed.

"Aria, your mom dropped this by a little while ago."

Aria looked up at her. She was genuinely surprised. "She didn't want to talk to me?"

Ashley shook her head. "There are a few more bags downstairs as well."

She looked at Aria, who's jaw dropped slightly. Her features changed, as it suddenly felt like someone had ripped her heart out and kicked her in the chest.

"Is there something going on, girls?" Ashley looked to each of them. They were all looking back at Aria.

"They're really serious," Aria whimpered softly, though she didn't move. She looked over at Spencer and Emily as Hanna waved her mother out of the room.

"Aria," Spencer said soothingly. "I'm so sorry."

"They really kicked me out," she cried. She shook her head. Spencer and Emily shoved their books aside and dove across the bed, each wrapping their arms around her as she cried. "What kind of person does that?"

"I don't know," Emily whispered as Spencer rubbed circles in Aria's back.

Aria shook her head, forcing herself to suck up her emotions quickly. She pulled away a moment later. "I was so sure that they'd realize. I can't believe they're really doing this."

Hanna walked back into the room and sat down on the bed next to Aria again. She reached up and wiped the tears from her friend's face. "If they don't love you enough to accept this, then maybe they're not worth it."

Aria half-sobbed, even though it sounded more like a laugh. "They're my _parents_. The people who raised me from birth. How can they do this?"

The girls just shook their head at Aria. There wasn't a real answer that could take away what she was feeling, regardless of what they said.

After a few minutes, Hanna changed the subject.

"Are you okay to stay, or do you want to leave?"

Aria shook her head, pushing her stuffed bag to the side with her foot." No. I'll be fine. Let's get our homework done. It's not like I have anywhere to be."

"What about Mr. Fitz," Emily asked.

Aria shrugged, picking up Hanna's phone. His number was still blocked from hers. "I'll just tell him I'll be late. He'll get it."

With that, the conversation ceased, and returned to schoolwork. They talked about anything that didn't require English class to be brought up. Aria said nothing about her parents, and in return, the girls made no attempt to try and strike up a conversation about them.

Before long, the pizza in the boxes were gone and the sun was setting in the sky. Another storm was rolling in and threatening to sweep over the city. Aria, Spencer, and Emily had their things packed up, even though they were sitting on Hanna's bed, talking about 'A'.

"I'm scared," Aria admitted. "Emily said it a few months ago. 'A' is trying to tear us down and rip us apart."

"He, she, **it**, hasn't managed to yet," Spencer replied in a firm voice. "We've stood strong against 'A' so far. We just have to stick it out a little longer."

Aria shook her head. "What if 'A' goes after Ezra? How am I supposed to explain that? I've dodged bullets so far, but I don't know how much longer I can. Especially if we're living together."

Emily shook her head. She looked over at Spencer. "Its like Spencer said, we just have to stick it out. 'A' has to slip up eventually. No one is that good."

Hanna walked into the bedroom as she clicked her phone dead. "Mr. Fitz called like four times while I was talking to Caleb. Are you sure you don't need to get back there?"

Aria shrugged. She stood off the bed. "I guess. But I'll see you guys at school on Monday?"

They each nodded, and then stood and hugged her individually. Aria turned back to Hanna.

"We can get together some time tomorrow to work on the paper. We just have to iron out the details, anyway."

Hanna smirked. "You mean I get t to see Mr. Fitz's apartment? Ouu…"

Aria and Spencer laughed at her and Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head.

The girls said goodbye, and then Aria headed out of the room and made her way down the stairs. As she passed through the foyer, she could hear Ashley talking on her phone. Just as Ashley had said, there were more bags. They were smaller, but contained things like her laptop and books and notebooks that she had lying around.

Aria walked out of the house calmly and carried her bags to her car. She got settled into the drivers seat with the smaller bags resting next to her in the passenger seat. She got situated and then started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

After driving more than a block, though, she had to stop. She ripped open each bag until she reached the last one. That was where she found it. Winesburg, Ohio, which Ezra had given to her. It seemed like years ago now, but it was still something that touched her heart and meant everything to her. She had been terrified since the day that her mother realized she had something going on with another person that her parents would find the book and realize who she was dating.

Aria exhaled a sigh of relief after several long moments of holding it in, and then placed the book back into the bag and zipping it up. The rain had started to come down, though it wasn't as bad as it was likely to get. She drove five miles over the speed limit, careful to avoid cops as she drove through the city towards Ezra's apartment building. As she did, the post on his Hollis page came back up into her mind.

On one hand, she didn't really care what Jackie thought of her. Aria didn't exactly have the highest views of the other woman, either. She couldn't really put someone like Jackie up to a high standard when, not only had she broken Ezra's heart, but she had also plagiarized someone else's work. Aria also knew from speaking with Adriana that a major cause for the end of Ezra and Jackie's relationship was the fact that she had been cheating on him.

Still, there was always a thought in the back of Aria's mind that Jackie could sneak up on their relationship when they least expected it, and snap it in two. Aria knew there was nothing more that Jackie wanted than to have Ezra back. She knew the mistake Jackie had made letting Ezra get away. Even so, Aria wasn't willing to let her correct it. Ezra was the solid ground that Aria stood on. She'd do anything she had to, to keep it that way.

She pulled into a parking stall in front of the apartment building and turned her car off. Fortunately, her mother had placed her umbrella in one of the bags. Aria pulled it out and pushed her door open before popping up the umbrella. She proceeded to get out of the car, and then grabbed her bags. Once she made sure the car was locked up, she headed for the apartment.

It wasn't easy, juggling five bags and an umbrella. When she made it to the door, she had to put her umbrella down on the ground to get the door open, and then had to close the umbrella. Then, once she was inside, she had to manage the task of carrying all of her things along with her school bag and umbrella, to Ezra's apartment. The task was tedious, but she managed.

She stumbled into the door, rather than knocking with full hands. Each second that she stood there waiting for him to open it on the other side, her shoulders screamed with aches from the bags.

Finally, he opened the door, and Aria pushed past him so that she could relieve her body of the duty of carrying the bags. Ezra watched her, slightly surprised for a moment before he realized what she was doing.

"Your parents really kicked you out," he asked gently.

Aria looked up at him. A knot threatened to form in her throat, but she quelled it. If she was really going to stick to her guns and go through with everything she was saying, she had to toughen her skin.

"They did," she nodded. "And I need to do a little research, but I'm going to look into emancipation."

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "Really? Are you sure?"

Aria pursed her lips as she crossed her throbbing arms. "I know my parents. As much as I know _I_won't back down, they won't either. And I can't live here with my parents still having the legal right to tell me what to do."

Ezra nodded. He leaned against the wall behind him.

"I don't have to stay here, if you don't want," Aria said quickly. "I can look at apartments in a few days. I just need to talk to a judge or a lawyer or something, and find a job. I can do it though, I don't-"

Ezra cut her off, shaking his head at her. "Aria, don't think that you **ever** have to go anywhere else. You're **always** welcome here. You're always safe here. If this is where you want to be, then this is where you'll stay."

She smiled sadly at him. He stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her. Aria hugged him back, resting her head against his chest.

"Thank you for being here; for not leaving. I don't know what I'd do…"

"I wouldn't leave you again," Ezra spoke softly. He tipped his head down and kissed her hair. "I'm not ever going anywhere, Aria. Not unless you're with me."

Aria smiled. She gulped and took in a deep breath. Tears were for someone that wasn't sure what their future held, and she knew exactly what her future held. Regardless of whether her parents were going to be in her life or not, she knew that the man holding her wouldn't leave her.

It was a reality her parents refused to see, but one she knew all too well. They had tried with everything between the two of them to not fall for each other. To not make a relationship out of what had become the energy between their bodies, hearts, and souls. Ezra had left town without so much as a phone call or letter to tell her where he was going once upon a time. He had tried to let her go, and pass her off to Noel.

They had **tried** not to be. Life simply refused to deal them the cards that would let things stay that way. The love, lust, and fervent wanton refused to suppress between them. Even for as much as they fought themselves to push down the feelings and not let things go past a PG-13 rating, feelings boiled over. 'I love you's' were exchanged. Valentines Day had come and gone with three dozen roses and a heart necklace Aria lied that Hanna had pawned off to her. It almost ended in making love, before Aria's phone had stopped them with a call from her mother.

A relationship that defied the laws, **and** the odds continued to brew, form, and build between them, no matter what tried to tear it down. Not even an unknown killer and stalker could keep them apart.

"Someday they'll understand," Ezra assured her. "I don't know how or when, but I'll make it so."

Aria looked up at him and smiled. She stood up on the tips of her toes and kissed him. As she did, his words ran through her mind.

"_Never let them make you change what you know to be right."_


	6. I Wish Nothing But The Best For You

__**A/N: **So I know I've been updating on like 5 day intervals lately... as long as I have access to the internet and I keep up the pace I've been writing at, it'll probably stay that way. Just remember **your reviews fuel my fire to keep writing! **And, as always** this is my story. I'm just sharing it with you. **

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Obviously. If I did, we'd already know who A is, Ezria would...well there's too many things to list there, and Lucian would exist... But that's a different topic entirely!

_Chapter 6_

_I Wish Nothing But The Best For You_

The weekend passed with little to do beyond Aria's unpacking and getting homework finished. By the time Monday rolled around, she'd managed to get everything finished for her History project with Hanna, and had looked up a few lawyers contact information so that she could speak to someone about emancipation.

Her day at school was less than pleasant. Before lunch, the entire school knew about she and Ezra. From what she managed to gather from all the gossip in the hallways, Mike had told his friends about Ezra's big reveal the week before, as well as Aria being kicked out. Noel mentioned that he already knew, and a fight broke out between the two.

Aria tried to break the fight up herself, but only earned a shove into the wall. Both of the boys were sent to the principal's office, where they were both thoroughly chewed out. Aria was ordered to go as well, but it didn't help much. The two boys continued to bicker and argue with each other even after they were surrounded by faculty telling them to shut up.

Aria exhaled an annoyed breath and looked around the mostly empty room as Mike was brought out of the office. He looked over at her angrily.

"Would you pull your head out of the damn sky, Aria? That guy's not in love with you. He's got you brainwashed."

She shook her head, refusing to say anything to her brother. He didn't understand.

"Who are you kidding," Noel argued back. "I tried to tell her that months ago. She's not brainwashed. Your sister is a whore, and Fitz is capitalizing on it. She deserves everything she gets."

Aria kept her head turned away from the boys, refusing to let them see that what they were saying hurt her, even though tears were in her eyes.

Mike launched at Noel, and managed one good punch to the older boy's jaw before he was pulled back by one of the teachers that walked into the office with Ella.

"Both of you boys, two weeks detention," the principal said angrily from the doorway. He looked to Aria and pointed towards his office. "Ms. Montgomery?"

Aria pushed up out of her seat and grabbed her book bag. She walked into the room.

"Ella, would you like to join us," the principal asked.

Aria looked back, catching her mother's eyes for a brief moment as Ella considered the option. She didn't consider it long though, because she quickly shook her head and muttered something about talking to Mike about fighting with Noel.

The principal shut the door, and waved to one of the chairs across from his desk. Aria chose the one to the right of it and dropped down into it. She settled her bag on the floor against the chair and crossed her left leg over the right. She crossed her arms as well, reaching up to wipe away the stray tears on her face.

"It appears that the argument taken place here today started over you," the principal said as he walked around his desk. He sat down in the large chair behind it and looked straight at Aria as he clasped his hands together and scooted forward. "However, neither of the boys seem to be willing to shed any light as to why. Would you like to?"

Aria took another deep breath and stared at the principal. Did he really not know? Or was he just playing dumb?

"I don't know," she lied. "I dated Noel a few months ago but it didn't work out. Maybe he was fighting with Mike over that."

The principal stared at her skeptically, and Aria knew he was sizing her up. He probably knew more than he was letting on, hoping she would give away the truth. Too bad she wasn't willing to budge.

"I really don't know, Mr. Davis. Mike is my brother and Noel and I run in the same circle of friends, but that doesn't mean I know everything about either of them and their lives."

"Isn't that a self-contradictory remark?" He asked.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Either way, I don't know. Class is going to start in ten minutes and I haven't eaten yet. Can I go?"

Principal Davis stared her down for several long moments. "There's a lot of talk going around about a student here carrying on an inappropriate relationship with Ezra Fitz; your former English teacher. Do you know anything about that?"

Aria shook her head, making sure to keep her expression blank. "I don't know what you're talking about. Lunch?"

The principal stared at her for several moments longer, before giving up defeat. "Alright. Stay out of trouble Ms. Montgomery. I don't want to see you in here again."

Aria pushed out of the seat and grabbed her bag off the floor. She slung it over her shoulder and then walked out of the room and headed towards the cafeteria.

Halfway there, Noel stepped out of a doorway and walked beside her.

"You should've ended it with him months ago, when I saw you two together. Hell, I should've told the principal."

Aria looked up at him and scowled. "Regardless of what you say or do, Noel, you're not going to ruffle my feathers. Just because you didn't get things to go your way doesn't mean you can start arguments with Mike just to get him going."

Noel cackled. "Right. Because you're the centre of my universe. Get over yourself, Aria. You're really not as special as you think you are."

With that, he turned and left her standing there. Her jaw was slightly ajar at his comment, but she quickly forced herself to shrug the comment off. She took several more steps, intending to head towards the cafeteria again, when she was stopped by someone calling her name.

She turned around, only to be met with Jason DeLaurentis standing right in front of her.

"Jason. What's up?"

He shrugged, shifting something in his hands. "School called. I guess they were taking down a display up on the third floor, and they found something Alison made her freshman year. How're you?"

Aria shrugged. "I'm fine. I have to get to the cafeteria-"

Jason nodded. "You seem… I don't know. Flustered. Are you okay?"

Aria nodded quickly. "Just a rough day. I really have to go. I'm sorry."

She moved to step past him only for him to grab her arm. He squeezed just a little too tightly.

"Can't we talk," he asked.

Aria pushed his hand off of her bicep and wrapped her hand protectively around it. She struggled to not make her physical pain aware. "Later. I really have to go."

Aria turned away again, crossing her left arm across her body. She held her right arm lightly, just below where Jason had gripped it so tightly. She rubbed her hand up and down a few times, ruffling her black mesh shirtsleeve as she did so.

She headed down the hallway towards the cafeteria. Kids breezed past her, murmuring comments and whispers as she passed by them. She knew that they couldn't all possibly be talking about her, but in an odd way, it certainly felt like they were.

She walked into the cafeteria, and spotted the girls a few seconds later. They had seen her too, and waved her over. Aria walked over to them and dropped her hands, cupping her hands against the skirt of the midnight blue dress she was wearing, so that she sat on it when she sat own.

She crossed her stocking-covered legs, and took the tray that Emily pushed towards her.

"Is everything okay," Spencer asked.

Aria shrugged. "They had a stupid fight. Principal Davis asked about Ezra. I said I didn't know anything about it."

"Can they really do anything to her anyway," Hanna asked.

Spencer shrugged. "Not her, but I think they could to Mr. Fitz. No matter what anyone says or does, it was still illegal."

"Can we just talk about something else," Aria asked, infuriated. "I'm sick of being the talk of the school."

The girls nodded, quickly changing the subject. Aria let them discuss other things quietly while she munched on celery sticks and a six inch sub one of the girls had bought for her. She was rushing to get her food down in time to meet the bell.

When lunch was over, Spencer and Aria headed off towards P.E. while the other girls went in a different direction. Aria was grateful that they were spending the class in the pool, which meant little to no interaction with other classmates.

As the rest of the day passed, she said little to any of her friends. Her last class of the day was an ICT class, information and communications technology. The assignment for the day was to work on a blog. Aria typed up something quickly about arguing with her parents and then proceeded to quickly throw together a resume. There wasn't much to it, considering she hadn't ever had a real job. Even so, she knew that going in for a job interview, it was good to have a resume, even if there was no actual work experience.

When the final bell rang, she printed off several copies of the resume and then dashed out of the computer room behind other students. Hanna was already standing by the door.

"I thought your study hall was in the cafeteria," Aria asked as they walked.

Hanna nodded. "It is. I had to get my homework for English printed off for your mom."

Aria huffed. "According to her, it's officially Mrs. Montgomery. Whatever."

They walked in silence towards Aria's locker.

"Did you want to come over and study with me and Spencer," Hanna asked as Aria pulled things out of her locker.

Aria shook her head, stuffing things into her bag. "I've got to make a stop at the mall and pick up applications for jobs and then head over to Hollis. Maybe tomorrow?"

Hanna nodded before hugging her. "Things will get better."

"I hope so," Aria agreed. She closed her locker door and then headed towards the exit.

Once she was out of the building, Aria made a mad dash for her car. She was one of the few people who hadn't lollygagged inside the building, and the parking lot wasn't yet filled with a line of cars at the exit.

Aria got into her car and started it up as she pulled her seatbelt on. She pulled out of her parking stall and made her way out of the parking lot. Headed in the direction of the mall, she fiddled with the radio dials. Nothing enticed her listening tastes, and she eventually turned it off.

She pulled into the mall parking lot a few minutes later. She pulled her resume print offs from her bag and then walked into the building with the sheets of paper and her purse in hand.

She started at the store closest to her and then proceeded to visit ten different stores from one end of the building to the other. She picked up an application at each place before she headed to the food court and filled out each one. She had a small stapler in her bag, and used it to staple her resume to each one. Afterwards, she headed back to each store and returned the applications promptly.

Several of them just thanked her, while three promised they'd call in a day or two with an answer.

Aria headed back out of the building and made her way towards Hollis. Along the way, she stopped in front of her favourite coffee shop. She sat in the car for nearly five minutes after she'd pulled into a parking space outside the building, contemplating. She had a limited amount of funds to work with, and they had to stretch until she got a job and got her first pay check. And while she wasn't exactly broke, she couldn't really run home to mom and dad and ask for fifty bucks to put in her gas tank.

After sitting there and berating herself for several long minutes, she opened her door and got out. A sign caught her eyes for a brief moment as she walked to the door, but she didn't bother to read it.

As soon as she stepped inside, the barista greeted her.

"Aria! Glad to see you today!"

Aria smiled at the woman. Her name was Loretta. She was an African-American woman with deep chocolate eyes, and a matching skin tone. She was much taller than Aria, and very slim with a body that most girls Aria knew would kill for. Hanna had made jealous comments before she had lost weight in ninth grade. She had worked there for as long as Aria could remember.

"Hey, Loretta. How's it going today?"

The older woman smiled warmly at her. "Pretty busy, sweetheart. What can I get you?"

"The usual," Aria replied just as warm. She looked around the place as Loretta went and began to prepare Aria's coffee.

The scenery was no different than it always was, so her eyes drifted quickly back to the sign she had seen in the window. The sign that she hadn't read.

_WON GNIRIH_

Aria whipped her head back towards Loretta as she turned to say something.

"You guys are hiring? What for?"

Loretta nodded. "Sammy and his girl Maria just moved back to LA. Something about her parents in an accident; had to get back there fast. Guess it was real bad. We need someone to cover their hours."

"Can I get an application?" Aria asked.

Loretta stopped in her tracks and looked up at Aria. "You sure, sweetie? I'd hire you on the spot, but only if you can fit it into your schedule."

"I can fit it into my schedule if you can make it work around school hours," Aria compromised. "I need the job, bad."

Loretta smiled at her as she pushed the coffee cup across the counter. "Normally I'd put you through the regular ringer, but you can fill out an application while you get started. I'll put it through later. I know you know the menu by heart anyhow."

Aria looked back at the sign in the window. In a sense, it was her own sign. Maybe she was doing things right after all.

_**-  
>I found a love I never had before<br>**__**You changed me  
>- <strong>_

Aria walked into the apartment and dropped her bag onto the floor as she kicked her shoes off.

"Where were you?" Ezra asked. He turned in his desk chair towards her.

Aria walked over to him and sat down in his lap. She pulled out a handful of crumpled bills from her pocket and dropped them on a paper Ezra was in the process of grading.

"I was at work," she said proudly.

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her, a smile on his face. "Seriously?"

Aria nodded. "My coffee place was hiring. I went to the mall, and they said they'd call, but Retta's was too good a place to pass up. It's a hundred bucks a week, plus whatever I make in tips. I'm still gonna hold out for something extra from the mall, but…" Aria trailed off, shrugging with a smile on her face. She felt pleased with herself.

"What about your school work," Ezra asked.

Aria shrugged. "I did some of it during down time before the dinner rush. I'll get the rest of it done now."

Ezra nodded, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "How was your day otherwise? You seemed a little down when you called earlier."

Aria shook her head. "It was stupid. Mike started a fight. Half the school thinks you're a creep. The other half thinks that I'm a, excuse the language, slut."

Ezra's face softened to a look of guilt. "You're still really sure you want to continue with things the way they're going," he asked.

Aria nodded. "I am. Are you okay with it?"

"If you're here, Aria, then I'm happy you're here."

Aria smiled thankfully at him and picked up her bills off his work. She counted them. A hundred dollars in tips for five hours of work. Being one of three people that doubled as a cashier and a waitress slash busboy had its advantages.

She moved off his lap and then walked back across the room and picked up her school bag. To her own luck, there wasn't any homework besides a few math problems and little bit of reading that her mother had assigned. She had a third period study hall that she normally read in, but she knew that having it now was definitely an advantage. She would need the time to get homework done that she couldn't do while she was working.

The apartment was silent for a while as they both worked on their respective homework. Ezra only interrupted Aria's working once to ask her if she had eaten. When she replied that she hadn't, he heated up leftover Chinese food for her, and then went back to putting together a lesson plan for the next day while she ate and worked.

Midnight was quickly approaching when Aria pushed her notebooks back into her school bag. She stripped out of her outfit and grabbed a pair of short shorts from the floor and pulled them on. She grabbed one of Ezra's t-shirts as well and then walked over to the bed and crawled into it.

Ezra walked out of the bathroom a moment later in pajama pants and walked over to the bed. He got into it on the opposite side as Aria and pulled the blankets up over them.

"I'm going to get a different phone plan tomorrow and get in touch with one of the lawyers."

Ezra nodded as he looked over at her. He extended his arm towards her and Aria excepted the opening. She snuggled up against him and closed her eyes.

"I must say, there is a perk to having you here through the night," he said with a cheerfulness in his voice. Aria slapped his chest lightly.

"That is _more_ than I need to know," she replied with a laugh.

"No," Ezra insisted, dragging out the word. "I've never slept so well as I do when you're here. It's comforting, I think."

Aria opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Really?"

Ezra nodded. "Really. You're amazing, Aria."

She smirked. "You really have got to stop saying that."

"Why," Ezra asked. He brushed her hair behind her earlobe. "It's true. You're amazing, and funny, and smart, and beautiful. I'm so fortunate to have ever even met you. To know you."

Aria blushed. Ezra smiled at her reaction and kissed her. Aria moved her arm under her body up and around his neck, bringing her right arm up to cup his face.

Ezra brushed his fingers down her arm and grabbed the back of her upper arm, intending to pull her closer. Aria tensed up as he squeezed the bruised area where Jason had grabbed her hours earlier.

"What," Ezra asked. He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Did I do something wrong."

"No," Aria said, though there was pain in her voice as she pulled his hand off her arm. She had only looked at it briefly when she had changed, but there were several light blue-purple spots on her arm.

Ezra looked down to where she had pulled his hand away and examined the skin there. He was surprised to see the bruises there. "Did your brother do this?"

Aria shook her head. "It's not important. Someone just grabbed me too hard. I'm okay, Ezra."

She could see in his eyes that he wanted to push the subject, but she didn't really want to discuss it further. He nodded after a moment and then reached across her side of the bed to turn off the beside table lamp. He then settled back into place, and wrapped his arms around Aria.

They resumed kissing, though he moved his hand up to her face instead of grabbing her arm again. Aria wrapped hers under his, pressing her hand flat against his back in attempt to pull him closer. The make out session lasted until they both dozed off into an exhausted sleep.

Morning came quickly though, and the blaring of the alarm was not fair in its greeting. Aria groaned and rolled over into her pillow while Ezra moved off the bed and stumbled towards the bathroom. The change in weight and temperature of the bed only further irritated Aria.

She huffed and pushed up out of the blankets a few moments later and swung her legs over the side of the bed. She pushed off of it and walked over to the kitchen. Aria opened the fridge and pulled out the tin of coffee. She settled it on the counter while she settled a new filter in the percolator and then filled the coffee pot with water. She added the coffee grounds last, and then turned on the machine. A few seconds later, it began to make noise as the water started to filter through the machine. It wasn't enough for the day, but the homemade stuff would see both she and Ezra through until they could get their hands on more-sugar-not-so-much-coffee coffee.

Aria dug through her mess of folded clothes on the floor as she kneeled down in front of them. She knew that the apartment was too small to fit all of both their things, but she hadn't had a chance to meet with a judge or lawyer yet, so getting a different apartment was out of the question for the moment. For the time being, most of her clothes were settled in piles on the floor, except for the drawer that Ezra had managed to clear for her, which held her intimates and her large assortment of hats.

She picked through the piles before settling on a pair of black skinny jeans and thin long-sleeved black shirt. She tossed both up onto the bed and then stood and pulled her drawer open, digging through for a matching set. She pulled out a bra and panties set that was made up mostly of lace flowers, and tossed them onto her clothes.

She knew she would have to wait for Ezra to finish up in the shower, so she walked back over to the kitchen and pulled out two clean coffee mugs. She stared at the percolator with hungry eyes until it finally stopped making noise, alerting her that it was finished.

Aria pulled the coffee pot off of the warming pad and poured two cups before replacing it. She walked over to the fridge and pulled out the liquid creamer and then walked back over to the filled coffee mugs. She poured the vanilla flavored creamer into the cups and then grabbed a spoon and stirred both mugs before picking up one of them and bringing it to her lips.

Even piping hot, she took a large gulp from it. She closed her eyes as the steaming liquid ran out of her mouth, down her throat and into her stomach.

By the time she finished her cup, Ezra was coming out of the bathroom, wrapped in his robe. She smiled and crossed the room to his bed. As she leaned forward to pick up her clothes from the end of the bed, Ezra wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"You're all wet," she chuckled.

Nothing else was said as she walked over to the bathroom. She settled her clothes on the closed toilet seat and then proceeded to remove her clothes and step into the still running shower. She stood under the pulsing steam of water and just took in its warmth for a few minutes before she actually started washing up.

Once she had, she returned to standing under the stream and enjoying the warmth. She rued stepping out of the shower when she finally did as a full body shiver shot down her spine from the quick drop in temperature.

Even so, she didn't waste much time. Aria quickly dried her body off with a fluffy towel and then changed into her clothes. Once she was fully dressed, she opened the door and walked out of the bathroom, back into the bedroom. She pulled a pair of socks out of the dresser and then slipped them on before grabbing her makeup bag and returning to the bathroom.

As soon as she was in front of the mirror, she unzipped the moderately sized bag and began pulling out different utensils that she would use to put the makeup on. Once she had everything set out, she started off with foundation. While she applied the makeup, she sang to herself, mostly to bring noise into the otherwise silent apartment, as Ezra was back at his desk, grading papers.

"_I'm meeting you on humble ground  
><em>_Where I hope we'll stay  
><em>_Meeting you on humble ground  
><em>_Here I am today_

_But it's not for me to know  
><em>_When things will go my way_

_I wish I didn't make a sound  
><em>_Wish I didn't curse  
><em>_Wish you weren't the one around  
><em>_When I'm at my worst_

_But it's not for me to know  
><em>_How with you my colours show…"_

"You should sing more often," Ezra said as he pushed up from his desk and shoved papers into his bag. He looked over at her. "Your voice is beautiful."

Aria looked out at him, blushing. "I sing all the time."

Ezra shook his head, pressing his lips together for a moment. "Not around me, you don't. I've only heard you sing once before now."

Aria raised an eyebrow at him. "Seriously? When?"

Ezra walked over to her and wiped his thumb against a spot under her left eye where mascara had smudged.

"The day I came back from New York. You were singing in that room to Noel."

Ezra's face was blank with just about no emotion to express what he thought of what he'd walked in on, but Aria knew that it still bugged him. She had been mere seconds away from kissing Noel in that room when Ezra had walked in.

The argument that had ensued should've been something that phased her so much sooner, though. Ezra had said right to her that things needed to change. She had wanted so badly to tell her parents; to be out in the open. Yet, somehow, that had only made things worse.

"What's going through that head of yours," Ezra asked, bringing Aria out of her memory. She looked up at him and shook her head.

"I just was remembering that day. I mean, we were so close to going off into a completely different direction."

Ezra nodded. He took the mascara out of her left hand and placed it on the side of the sink, and then grabbed both of Aria's hands and interlaced their fingers.

"I know I've asked you this before, but its different now and I can see how all of this is affecting you."

"What?" Aria asked.

"Do you wish you could go back and change it? Not have shown up at the bar?"

Aria shook her head without even considering the question. "Never. I would never wish for something like that, Ezra."

He nodded and looked down at the floor. "I'll let you get back to your makeup."

Ezra dropped their hands and turned to walk out of the room. Aria turned back to the vanity and picked up her mascara again. She went back to work applying her makeup. As she stood there, though, there was an unrelenting question in her head.

When she was finished applying her makeup, she walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her schoolbag from the floor. She walked over to the door and picked up her converse sneakers and then walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Can I ask you something?" Aria asked as she pulled the laces of her shoes.

Ezra spun around in his chair and looked up at her. "Hmm?"

"I know how all of this is affecting me, but you haven't said anything about it. Are you okay with everything that's happened with my parents?"

Ezra stared at her quizzically for a few moments as he pondered the question. "Don't take this the wrong way, but no. I'm not."

"Okay," Aria replied. "Why not?"

Ezra stood from his seat and walked over to her. He sat down on the cushion next to her. "I'm not okay with the fact that your parents have basically shunned you. I'm not okay with the fact that because we were honest with your parents about us, you can't go home. It's not that I don't want you here. But I see how it hurts you, and that's not alright with me. It's not me blaming you, though, or even being upset with you. I just want it all to be okay."

Aria leaned into Ezra and he wrapped his arm around her. "I'm sorry you got brought in to all of this."

Ezra turned his head towards hers and pressed his lips against her temple. "You didn't bring me in _into_ anything. I knew when we stayed together at the beginning of the year that this was dangerous. I knew that eventually we'd have to tell your parents. I expected fights, and a few stray punches. But not this. Never this."

"Sometimes I wish we hadn't told them." Aria murmured.

"Or what," Ezra asked. "Let someone else get to them? Let Jackie tear us apart?"

"Its not like she hasn't kept trying." Aria sighed.

Ezra sat up, turning more towards her. "What do you mean? Has she come at you since you and your friends ended up at the station?"

Aria shook her head. "No, but I've seen the things she's said to you. Ezra, I don't want you to have to put up with her doing this because of me."

"Jackie is most definitely a part of my past, Aria. The fact that she can't accept her is her own problem. Letting her dig her nails into this situation is only going to give **her** satisfaction."

"So you're really okay with her doing what she's doing?" Aria asked.

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her. "Okay with it? No. But I deal with it. Jackie has always been a cut throat person who fights for what she wants. But you can't very well fight for something that doesn't want you. Eventually she'll get that."

"Are you sure," Aria chuckled.

Ezra kissed her forehead. "Everything will be okay, Aria. It just takes time."

_More time for 'A' to rip my life apart,_Aria thought to herself. "We should stop sitting around. I have to finish up some work for school."

Ezra nodded, exhaling a deep breath. "And I have papers to finish grading. Will I see you at Hollis tonight?"

"After I stop to get a new cell contract and call one of those lawyers. With any luck, there will be minimal fighting. Or at least, I can hope so."

Ezra ran his hand down the back of her head. "Don't buy in to the arguments they start and then they hold no power."

Aria chuckled. "Not when my brother's involved. He and Noel Kahn tried to rip each other apart yesterday because apparently Noel thinks I'm a slut. I wonder if he's friends with Jackie," she said snidely.

"Maybe," Ezra replied, with a teasing smile on his own face.


	7. You Bring Out The Devil In Me

**A/N:** So my plan to not watch the season until it was over failed miserably. It lasted for about an hour after I got home, and then a desperate need to see all the cute new scenes people were posting on tumblr took over. I'm still tearful and heartbroken over Ezria and desperately want them back together, but in the meantime, I have the cuteness/happiness that is this story. And in stories, I can write anything I want! :D Anyway, I really liked how Mike seemed to show that he was somewhat on Aria's side, so that is going to show up a bit here. Even so, I'm going to try and keep the story and the show separate as much as possible. **M Rated themes ahead. You've been warned. **

**Also, I hate to use threats…**_But when I see the story alert count go up after each chapter, and watch the reviews dwindle, I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me. I've never been an author to withhold up dates on that premise, but there's a first time for everything. _

**And I certainly do adore and enjoy reading your reviews! I'm thankful for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM! It matters to me that you love this story! SO TELL ME!**

**Disclaimer:** Extra Ordinary is NOT my song. Lucy Hale sang it for A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song. I have no ownership/affiliation/ect., with anyone related to the song, movie, Lucy, et al. The title comes from Kate Voegele's song "Devil In Me". The lyrics at the beginning of Aria's first journal entry are my own. So are the poems she and Ezra write.

_Chapter 7_

_You Bring Out The Devil In Me_

Aria leaned up against the adjacent locker as Hanna stuffed things into her own school bag. The day had been relatively normal, disregarding the arguments and slander that had flown about the school about her.

"So what happened in the bathroom before," Hanna asked as she looked over at Aria.

Aria shook her head, wiping a teardrop from her eyelid before it could fall. "Girls saying that Ezra came onto them while he was working here and that I must be easy because he's oh so obviously slept with me."

"And that Gina chick shoved you into one of the sinks?" Hanna asked.

Aria nodded. Her hands were wrapped protectively over her hip.

"Why don't you go to the principal?"

Aria shook her head. "He was already asking questions yesterday. They're all looking for a reason to do something to Ezra. I can't do that to him."

Spencer walked over to them, quickly flanked by Emily. "Okay, I'm going to murder that girl."

Aria and Hanna looked up at Spencer. "Who?"

"Gina Ryan. Emily just told me what happened in the bathroom."

Aria shook her head. "No, Spence, don't. There's enough trouble brewing around here without me getting you girls involved. You don't need to do anything. It'll die down soon enough when someone else does something note-worthy."

"So what are you gonna do then," Emily asked.

Aria shook her head with a shrug. "For now? Go get a new phone and pray Ezra doesn't want to kill anyone when he finds out. Oh, and I have to call a lawyer. If all goes well after that, I need to start looking at apartments."

Hanna scrunched her eyebrows. "You're leaving the Fitz?"

The girls laughed at her.

"No," Aria chuckled. "But that little apartment doesn't have nearly enough room for the two of us to live in long-term. I got that job over at Retta's, and I don't have to work today, so I need to find something that will work for Ezra and I. I want to look at two bedrooms so I don't ruffle any feathers with anyone."

"Damn," Spencer commented. "This is all moving so fast. You haven't even been out of your parents place a week."

Aria nodded. "And my parents both refuse to even look at me."

"Well, can we all meet up for dinner or something, then?"

Aria pulled her buzzing cell phone from her pocket and then nodded. "Yeah." She pushed a button on her cell phone. "Apparently my mother suddenly wants to speak. I'll text you guys when I'm finished at the cell store."

She pushed away from the lockers and stuffed her phone back into her pocket and then walked down the hall towards her mother's class room. She kept her arms crossed and stayed out of the way of people as best she could. Several girls still cat-called at her, and one shoved her into a bubbler after calling her another derogatory name. She kept one hand on her bag to keep it on her shoulder while her other hand held tightly to her hip.

She knocked lightly on Ella's door before she walked in. Ella looked up from the desk.

"What's up," Aria asked.

"Where was your homework today?" Ella asked.

Aria furrowed her brow. At the same time, her heart sank and a wave of sadness washed over her. For all the reasons she had considered in the last minute that her mother could have wanted to talk to her, Aria had never considered it to be homework.

"What do you mean? I turned it in."

Ella shook her head. "I don't have it here."

Aria huffed. "Can I e-mail it to you? It's on my computer, but that's in my car."

Ella stared at her with a tightlipped expression. Aria sank back against a desk behind her, but winced slightly as her hip growled at her with a twinge of pain.

"Are you alright," Ella asked.

Aria wasn't sure if her mother asked because she really cared, or if she was just trying to be polite. "Fine. Can I e-mail it or do I have to take a docked grade?"

"Send it in before midnight." Ella said finally.

"Alright," Aria replied. She pushed off the desk and turned towards the door. Before she actually moved though, she looked back up at Ella. "Anything else?" She asked with a smidgen of hope in her voice.

Ella shook her head. Aria took a slow deep breath and then proceeded to walk to the door. She opened it.

"Aria?"

Aria looked back over her shoulder, ready to walk out of the room. She looked at her mother, once again hopeful. "Yeah?"

Ella looked Aria up and down and then shook her head again. "Never mind."

Aria turned her head and walked into the hallway. She pulled her iPod from her bag and turned it on, making sure it was on full blast before she put the earbuds into her ears and then stuffed the media player into her pocket. She crossed her arms loosely in front of her and kept her head down as she walked towards the student parking lot.

She had just made it out of the doors when someone yanked out one of her headphones. "Aria!"

She turned around, trying not to make it obvious that she was crying, and looked up to see Mike standing there in front of her.

"What," she said. Her voice was strained from the large knot forming in her throat.

"Are you okay?" He asked. He sounded genuinely concerned.

Aria looked up at him, gulping down a hard swallow. "Do I look okay?"

Mike moved towards her and gently hugged her. Aria tried to be calm as she slowly moved her arms up to hug him back, but the realization that someone in her own family was actually showing some sense of approval towards her crashed down hard on her, and she clung to his shirt as she hugged him back.

"Hey, its okay," he said softly.

Aria shook her head, not bothering to say anything. What could she say? He thought she was brainwashed.

She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Mike rubbed her back gently.

When Aria had her bearings, she pulled away. Mike let her go and handed her iPod to her. She thanked him quietly and stuffed it into her pocket before reaching up and wiping the tears off her face.

"Thanks. I needed that."

Mike nodded. "I just… I'm sorry about what I said and did."

"Which thing?" Aria asked.

Mike shook his head, shrugging. "All of it. I thought… I guess I thought that it was just like everything else you hear about, you know? Like he was just in it to sleep with you. To hurt you."

Aria shook her head as she crossed her arms again. "He's not, Mike. Ezra and I met before school started. We didn't know he was going to be teaching here. He didn't even know I was sixteen."

Mike furrowed his brow at her. "You mean he-"

Aria shook her head. "We met in a bar the day before school started. Remember, I was going to get some food? I went to get a burger, and he was there. And we never meant for it to happen like this. Ezra and I didn't even know that it was going to last this long."

"But Noel," Mike countered. "How did he know?"

"He saw Ezra and I together," Aria said softly, being wary of the people exiting the school around them. "I think he was suspicious before that, but when he saw us in Ezra's car at Mona's party…"

Aria shook her head. "Why does it matter anyway?"

"You're my sister, Aria. I-… Do you guys really love each other? I mean you really love him? It's real? Not some sick, twisted-"

"No," Aria cut him off. "It's real, Mike. It's the most real thing that's ever happened in my life. I wouldn't trade having Ezra in my life for anything. I know it doesn't look right on the surface, but if you- if mom and dad could see it for more than what it _looks_ like? I want you guys to see what it is about Ezra that's important to me."

Mike looked to the ground, and then back to her. "I don't know about mom and dad… I can try. For you."

"Really?" Aria's demeanor was hopeful again.

Mike nodded. "I've heard mom and dad talking, and I don't know that right now is the best time to try and get them to let their guard down towards Mr. Fitz, but I'm here for you, Aria. Anything I can do…"

"Actually, there is," Aria said after a second.

"What?" Mike asked.

"My guitar?" Aria asked. "I'll be at the grill tonight with the girls."

"Sure," Mike said in a bit of a drawl. "I'll just make up a story."

Aria hugged him again, though she did it gingerly. "Thanks, Mike. It means a lot."

He nodded.

The two of them parted ways and Aria went to her car while Mike headed back into the school.

Once she was in her car and out of the school parking lot, she headed over to her cell phone providers and walked in to the building. She was fortunate enough to have a new phone that she was hoping to simply transfer over to her own line.

She waited behind a woman purchasing a new phone and then delved into the long process of being removed from her parents line so that she could be on her own. After about an hour, she walked out of the building with her phone officially working under a different number. She sent Hanna, Emily, and Spencer each a text message with the new number before she headed off towards Hollis.

When she arrived, people were passing between classes and headed towards their own cars. She walked to Ezra's office, grateful to be surrounded by people who didn't know who she was, and that no one was shoving her into a wall or locker. She passed by her father's office as she walked through the building and stopped for a brief moment, leaning against the wall as she heard him talking to a student.

Her heart sank, hearing him talk. It hurt to not be able to talk to her father most of all. She was close with her mom, and she was close with Mike, but Aria shared a special bond with her father that was unmatched by almost every relationship in her life except for Ezra. He had the same adoration for writing and literature that she did, and she missed that.

Eventually, she pushed off the wall, and continued on her walk towards Ezra's office. Her phone went off several times in her hand as the girls texted her back, asking her to meet them at the grill at six thirty. Aria sent a mass message back to them with a yes and then turned her phone onto silent as she reached Ezra's room. She was about to walk in the room, but stopped when she heard him talking.

"…_Why is it that you can't just leave well enough alone? I've tried to be civil with you, Jackie, but you seem set on causing trouble."_

"When are you going to wake up and realize that girl is only trouble for you, Ezra? She's not going to choose you in the end. She's sixteen!"

Ezra gave an annoyed laugh. _"Because I don't know that already. I have no wish to be with you, Jackie. I'm over you, and nothing you do or say is going to make me want you back. Even if there wasn't another person in my life, I don't want to be with you. Remember, __**you**__ended this. This rests squarely on your shoulders, and I feel no pity for you."_

It was silent for a few moments. Aria strained her hearing, wondering if something more had happened.

"_When this all blows up in your face, don't come crawling to me," _Jackie said finally. Her voice was full of venom.

Aria shot across the hall and pushed open a door to a darkened room. She stepped inside and shut the door until only a crack of light was showing through. As she stood there, she listened while Jackie walked out of Ezra's room and proceeded to slam the door behind her. She waited until the clacking of her heels had receded down the hall before she stepped out of the room.

As the door opened up, she realized that she had walked into a storage closet. She laughed for a moment at herself as she pushed Ezra's door open. He looked up at her, and she could tell by the look on his face that he was angry.

"She didn't ambush you in the hallway, did she?"

Aria shook her head. She settled her bag by the door and pulled it shut before walking over to him. She ran her left hand down the side of her face. "I ducked into the storage closet. What did she say that made you so angry?"

Ezra shook his head, pulling her hand gently down off of his face. She could tell that he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Doesn't matter. Same old crap that she used to pull."

Aria nodded. "Did you have your phone? I have a different number for you."

Ezra nodded after taking a deep breath and then turned to his desk. Aria walked back over to the door and picked her school bag, holding her bruised hip with one hand as she did so. She walked back over to his desk and took his phone from him as she pulled her own from her bag. She flipped his open and opened his contacts. Her name was right at the top, just below Adriana's. She opened the editing option and then searched through her phone to find her new number. She keyed in the information and then saved it. She handed Ezra's phone back to him.

"Should be able to call me now."

Ezra nodded. He kissed her forehead. "So how was your day?"

Aria shrugged. "Girls have now decided that you wanted to get with every single one of them. And I mean all of them. I'm pretty sure I saw at least half a dozen couples break up because the girls said you wanted them."

Ezra snorted in disbelief and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Aria. I'm sorry you have to put up with that, and that I wasn't there to stop it."

"Wouldn't it be worse if you _were_?" She asked. "Then you'd be at risk of losing your job."

"Like I'm still not," he said under his breath. Aria furrowed her brow at him.

"What was that?"

Ezra shook his head again. "Nothing. I'm sorry, it's not you. I just… I need to take a walk before my next class. Would that be okay?"

Aria nodded. "I have to e-mail my homework to my mother anyway. Apparently someone made sure it didn't get turned in. Makes me wonder how long this crap is going to go on."

Ezra tilted her chin up to him and kissed her. "I promise I'll listen later."

Aria nodded. She watched him walk out and then grabbed her bag and walked around the desk and sat down in the chair behind it. She pulled her laptop from her bag and opened it up. She sang softly to herself while she waited for it to load so she could send her e-mail to her mother.

Once it was all loaded up, she opened her e-mail client and opened a new message. She stopped momentarily as she attached her mother's e-mail address to the recipient bar, and it appeared as 'mom'. Yet again, a knot formed in her throat. She swallowed hard and clicked the attachments button and then attached the assignment. She then clicked on the box where the actual e-mail was meant to be typed.

_Here it is. Should be all there. _

She sent the message off a few seconds later and leaned back in the seat for a moment. As she sat there, a file on her desktop caught her eye. She clicked on it.

_**-  
>I've took in the most that I could<br>**__**I never imagined that I would be feeling so misunderstood  
>- <strong>_

Aria sat down next to Hanna and settled her purse next to her. "So what's up?"

"You know that creep detective Wilden?" Spencer said after a moment.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. The one who's so sure we're the ones who killed Ali." She shuddered at the thought.

"He's been staking out my house," Hanna said. "Following me and Emily everywhere."

Aria furrowed her brow and shook her head. "No. I thought that when your mom got all the charges docked down, that he wasn't allowed to-"

"He's not **supposed** to be following us or doing anything that he can't find by maintaining a proper investigation, but it's Wilden. What are we supposed to expect?" Spencer said.

Aria shook her head. "A little privacy? If he finds out about Ezra-"

"We won't let that happen." Emily said. "We all know that the best way to show someone they're wrong is to show them how boring you are."

Aria shook her head. "He's been on us since Ali's body was found. I feel like an idiot for ever thinking things were going to get better when he was suspended."

"We didn't kill Ali, though," Spencer replied. "That's what's important."

Aria sighed, annoyed. "I really don't think he cares. I think he's so determined to have someone go down for this, that he's willing to pin it on anyone, whether it's us, Toby, or someone else entirely."

She turned her attention away from them as her phone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out.

"_Headed home."  
><em>_-Ezra_

Aria exhaled hard and settled her phone on the table. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"What can we do?" Hanna countered. "We haven't done anything wrong. Everything that's happened to get us in trouble this far had to do with 'A'. I really hate that bitch."

"Don't we all?" Emily said.

"Why can he, she, **it** just go throw itself off a cliff? We have enough problems without A."

The girls nodded, and then Spencer looked up. "Mike?"

Aria turned around in her seat. Sure enough, Mike was walking through the door. He held a guitar case in his right hand by its handle.

"You and your brother are speaking again?" Hanna asked, surprised.

Aria stood and hugged Mike when he had walked over to them. He hugged her back as he leaned the instrument up against the table.

"Mom thinks Noel is borrowing it."

Aria chuckled as she pulled away from her brother. "I'll tell her tomorrow. Thanks for bringing this. And Noel? How'd you manage that lie?"

Mike shrugged. "Boys will be boys?"

"Again. You're talking to your brother **again**?"

Aria glared at Hanna. "Yes."

Hanna furrowed her brow, confused. She looked to Mike. "After you beat up Fitz?"

Mike looked at Aria and Hanna, obviously nervous from the question. "Dad was pissed and, I don't know. I jumped to the first conclusion there was. I didn't know until after everything happened. Mom and dad, they want to blame everything but the actual possibility that there might be real feelings. They'll get it eventually."

"I hope," Aria muttered. She sat back down in her seat. "Why don't you join us for dinner?"

Mike shook his head. "I'm going to meet some of the guys for pizza and we're gonna play some basketball."

Aria nodded. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Mike chuckled. "Where else would I be besides school?"

He walked out a few minutes later, and the girls finally ordered dinner for themselves. Talk withered while they ate their meals, and switched topics off of A, to various things going on in their lives outside of school.

As they were finishing eating, Aria's phone went off again, this time for a phone call.

"Fitz need you for something important," Hanna teased.

Aria rolled her eyes, hitting the ignore button. "No. He was… Jackie put him in a bad mood."

"Can I beat her up?" Spencer asked. "I really think two black eyes would go a long way for her."

Aria smiled and cackled, shaking her head. "Aren't we trying to avoid the cops? Jackie's so pretentious and self centered that she'd do anything to get the cops involved."

She placed her phone in the pocket of her sweater and pushed away from the table. "I should get going. I still have homework to do, and I have an appointment tomorrow morning, which means I have to get permission to miss my classes."

"Appointment?" Spencer asked. Her voice was filled with concern.

Aria rolled her eyes. "I'm not knocked up, Spence. I'm meeting with a lawyer."

"Oh." Spencer blushed, slouching slightly in her chair.

Aria chuckled. She pulled a ten dollar bill from her pocket and placed it on the table. "Someone can give me the change tomorrow."

She proceeded to exchanged goodbyes and hugs with Hanna, Spencer, and Emily before grabbing her guitar and walking out of the grill. She walked to her car and opened her back driver side door and placed her guitar in the backseat before moving to the drivers seat.

The distance from Ezra's apartment from the grill was nothing more than a few blocks. If she hadn't been coming from Hollis with him, she probably would have walked.

By the time the current song on the radio finished playing, she was pulling into the driveway. She pulled her car up next to his and then turned it off and got out, grabbing her things. She walked into the building, juggling her schoolbag as well as her laptop and her guitar. She nearly dropped all of it more than once as she walked towards the apartment, but managed to adjust her grip on all her luggage so that she didn't.

When she reached the apartment, she was grateful to find the door was already unlocked. She pushed the door open and walked over to the couch, dropping her laptop onto it. She walked back over to the door and shut it before kicking off her shoes and walking back over to the couch.

Ezra was seated at his desk. He spun around and waved at her briefly before turning his attention back to what he was working on.

"Give me just a minute," he said, drawing out his words. "I'm almost finished with this."

Aria sat down on the floor between the couch and the coffee table and pulled her homework from her bag. There nothing more than a few math problems she had to finish.

Ezra moved out of his chair a few moments later and walked over to the kitchen. He poured himself a fresh cup of coffee.

"Where'd the huge instrument come from?" He asked as he sipped his coffee.

Aria looked up at him briefly before she looked back down at the geometry problem she was solving.

"Mike got it for me. It was in my bedroom."

Ezra furrowed his brow. He walked back into the sitting room and settled his coffee cup on the desk. "You talked to your brother? When?"

Aria looked up at him, resting her pencil on her notebook. "After school today. I was going to tell you, but after this afternoon, I thought I'd wait until you weren't so upset."

Ezra nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. He looked around the room nervously for a moment and then looked back at her. "So what happened?"

Aria shrugged. "Not much, to be honest. He just…listened. And apologized for jumping you."

Ezra sat back down in his desk chair. "Wasn't your brother so much as it was your father. I think." He shook his head dismissively. "That night is a bit of a blur."

"Anyway," Aria said, changing the subject. "He asked if I needed anything. I asked him if he could get me my guitar."

Ezra nodded. At a loss for anything else, he turned back to his work. Aria returned to finishing her homework, and she was done a few moments later.

Aria stuffed her books into her bag and then set it aside and set her laptop nearby before reaching for her guitar case. She opened it up and pulled it out before adjusting the capo and grabbing a guitar pick from one of the small storage compartments in the case. She strummed a few chords lightly.

"Do you have a few minutes," Aria asked.

"In a moment?" Ezra replied.

Aria set her guitar aside and stood. She wasn't directly behind him, but she could tell that he was writing.

"Yeah. Don't let me keep you from writing. I can wait."

Ezra turned back to the notebook splayed out on his desk and Aria walked over to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice. She took her time getting a glass and filling it with the juice before returning the bottle to the fridge.

After she'd drank a generous portion of what was in her cup, she walked back into the sitting room and sat down on the floor, grabbing her guitar and pick. Ezra was still seated at his desk, writing.

"I promise I'll be done in just a few moments," he said.

Aria looked up at him for a second and then looked back down at her guitar as she pulled a few strings on it. "Don't rush yourself."

Ezra chuckled from where he was sitting. Aria began to strum the chords going through her head and hummed softly as she did.

After a full minute, Ezra turned around in his chair and looked down at her. "You've got my interest piqued. I can write later. What are you doing?"

Aria smiled at him again. "I asked Mike to bring me my guitar tonight, because what you said this morning got me thinking."

"What exactly did I say?"

"A lot," Aria said with a teasing manner. "But when you said I never sing around you…"

Ezra moved off the chair and sat down on the floor next to her. "Aria I didn't mean-"

She shook her head. "I know, I know. But you reminded me that I haven't really put any time into playing or singing at all lately. I used to write lyrics and melodies all the time. I guess after my mom started working at school and I signed up for my class at Hollis, things got in the way."

"Okay?"

Aria looked back down at her guitar and began to strum again. "Do you remember those few days after Hanna's accident?"

Ezra nodded. "Vividly. Why?"

Aria picked up a notebook next to her. It was already opened to a page. "Because that's when I wrote this." She placed it back on the floor. "I wanted to play it for you."

Ezra smiled coyly at her, curious. "Alright."

Aria nodded and then turned back to her guitar again. She made sure she had the right chords and then began to play the song.

"_i'm imprisoned, i've been living a lie  
><em>_another night, I'm putting on a disguise  
><em>_i wanna tear it off and step in the light  
><em>_don't you? don't you?_

_so now i'm knocking at your front door  
><em>_and i'm looking for the right cure  
><em>_i'm still a little bit unsure  
><em>_cause I know, yeah i know…"_

Aria closed her eyes, letting the song flow through her.

"_that most people see me as ordinary  
><em>_but if you look close you'll find i'm very  
><em>_interesting and hard to know  
><em>_you can never tell where this might go  
><em>_cause i'm not your average, average person  
><em>_i dont know much, but i know for certain  
><em>_that im just a little bit, extra extra  
><em>_i'm just a little bit extra ordinary…"_

She opened her eyes and looked directly into his.

"_i can see it from the spark in your eyes  
><em>_you believe in all the things you deny  
><em>_you wanna fly and leave your worries behind  
><em>_don't you? don't you?_

_well now i'm knocking at your front door  
><em>_and i'm looking for the right cure  
><em>_i'm still a little bit unsure  
><em>_cause i know, yeah i know_

_that most people see me as ordinary  
><em>_but if you look close you'll find i'm very  
><em>_interesting and hard to know  
><em>_you can never tell where this might go  
><em>_cause i'm not your average, average person  
><em>_i don't know much, but i know for certain  
><em>_that im just a little bit, extra extra  
><em>_i'm just a little bit extra ordinary…"_

She played the last few chords of the song with her attention turned to her guitar. A shyness had washed over her as she approached the end of it. She was nervous that he might think it was stupid.

"I know its corny and stupid-"

Ezra pulled the instrument from her lap and shook his head. He grabbed her left hand and right hip and pulled her to him so that she was straddling his hips. He kissed her open-mouthed.

"That was _anything_but stupid and corny. I loved it."

Aria blushed. She rested her head against hers and closed her eyes. "You're the craziest, most wonderful, best thing that's ever happened to me, Ezra Fitz."

She could feel his smile fill his face as they sat there.

"And **you** are the craziest, most _beautiful_ thing that's ever happened to me, Aria Montgomery. I love you. Don't ever forget that."

Aria opened her eyes and leaned back slightly, looking Ezra in the eyes. He stared back at her with the same burning wanton and un-regarded love and adoration. He grabbed both of her hips and brought her back to him, running a hand up into her hair. He kissed her roughly, and Aria met his fervor. Her hands roamed his chest and reached for the buttons on his vest, beginning to pull them apart. Ezra ran his hands up the back of her shirt as he leaned her back and rested her against the floor, hovering over her.

Aria hooked one of her legs behind his and pulled him down upon her, pushing his shirt and vest off his shoulders as she finished unbuttoning them.

Ezra ground his hips into hers as he moved a hand up her waist and then up to her neck finally coming to rest just below her ear. His other hand was still under her shirt, moving back and forth in gentle circles.

Aria raised her own hips towards his. Ezra grabbed her left hip and she winced, gasping from the shot of pain in her side.

Ezra leaned up at the sound. "Not the response I was looking for."

Aria rested her palms against the base of his neck as her thumbs rubbed gently against his temples; her fingers tangled into his curly hair.

"I'm all for christening for the apartment, but the floor is a little uncomfortable. I have a better idea."

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her. "Really?"

Aria looked across the room, towards the shower. She turned Ezra's head towards it as well. He chuckled.

"Are you implying we make the shower a little unsanitary," Ezra teased.

Aria shrugged. "Why not?"

Ezra shook his head. "I can't come up with an answer to say no." He smiled at her.

He pushed himself up to his feet and then reached down to help her up as well.

They walked towards the bathroom, but Ezra stopped at the nightstand. Aria's hand slipped from his as she pushed the bathroom door open and turned the light on. She looked back at him. "Are you coming?"

Ezra lifted a small foil package from the drawer. "Not without this."

Aria smiled gratefully at him for thinking of using protection. She turned towards the shower and reached inside, pulling the faucet stopper up so that the showerhead began to spray water into the tub. Just as quickly, it ran down the drain.

Aria turned the knob so that the water was nice and hot before she pulled Ezra to her. He shut the door behind himself and lifted her up onto the small vanity.

Aria pushed Ezra's shirt off him completely and ran her hands up and down her back as they resumed their heated make-out session. Ezra pulled her arms free a moment later though, and pushed her shirt up over her head. He tossed it over his shoulder and it landed on top of his shirt.

Aria reached for the buckle of Ezra's jeans and pulled his belt loose. At the same time, he pulled her down off the vanity and trailed kisses down the side of her neck. Ezra groaned and turned his head towards her, kissing her once more. He released the clasp on her bra and brushed the straps down her shoulders.

Aria slipped her fingers into the waistband of Ezra's boxers and pushed his jeans and boxes off his body as her bra fell from her body. Her own pants fell a moment later as he pushed them off her body. She kicked them aside as Ezra pulled her body flush against his and lifted her right leg. She hooked it around his left calf, moving her hands into his hair.

They broke apart a moment later, and Aria turned to step into the shower. She reached her hand out to Ezra. He grabbed the foil wrapped condom and took her hand, stepping into the shower a moment later. He pulled the door shut and turned his attention back to Aria.

_**-  
>I was trying to fly but I couldn't find wings<br>**__**But you came along and you changed everything  
>- <strong>_

Aria leaned back against the wall. She was sitting in the bay window again, with a nasty case of insomnia. Her notebook laid in her lap, but she couldn't quite come up with the words to write just yet. She had turned back to the entry she'd written on the previous Thursday; the last night she'd spent at home with her family.

_April 15__th_

_Turn of this light, turn off the whole town  
><em>_Do it before I burn this whole place down…_

_Waiting like this is killing me. I hate not knowing if he's okay. The internet is not a sufficient way to keep a relationship going. _

_It hurts that mom and dad won't even __**consider**__ understanding our relationship. I know what it __**looks**__ like, but that's different from what it is. _

_I keep playing Wouldn't Change A Thing over and over on my iPod. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't take back one moment with him. _

_I hate this. I hate that nothing I do makes it feel better. Talking, crying… writing, the one thing that usually helps with everything isn't doing anything. _

_I give up. _

Aria turned back towards the window and stared out it. She jumped at the sound of laughter and looked across the room.

"_So I hook up with her in the library, but you know, you can't get serious in the sociology stacks, so I take her back to my dorm room." Hardy slapped Ezra's shoulder. _

"_Can't believe you're telling this story," he laughed. _

"_Hey, let him finish, I wanna here."_

_"She wants to hear," Hardy insisted._

"_So I get her back, y'know he's sound asleep, of course. I get her shirt off, y'know. Things are happening, life is good, and then this geek, right here, starts laughing. In his sleep! And he's done this before, but this chick, she does not believe that he's asleep."_

_Ezra laughed. "Which I was."_

_"You laugh in your sleep?" Aria asked incredulously._

_"Mmhmm."_

_"That's cute."_

Aria shook her head as she watched him giggle once more. A smile crossed her face and lifted her pen up, beginning to write.

_11:23 PM_

_Laughter in the middle of the night  
><em>_  
>Reckless, vulnerable feeling<br>__That doesn't turn off with your disregard_

_See the moonlight in the sky  
><em>_And turn on the stars to light the night  
><em>_  
>Taping together pieces of a broken heart<br>__Put it back in place  
><em>_And make sure it stays that way_

_Silence burns up like an inferno  
><em>_Bringing this all down,  
><em>_And back to where it began_

_Sunlight  
><em>_New day  
><em>_Leaves on the ground  
><em>_And if that's what it takes to kiss the sun  
><em>_Then I'd rather run_

She stared at the paper for a long moment before closing the notebook and setting it down beside her. She turned to move off the window sill, and spotted Ezra's notebook lying open. She looked across the room at his sleeping form.

Curiosity burned inside of her with wonder at what he was writing about lately. He often showed her things after he wrote them, but in the last few weeks, he hadn't been so freely sharing.

She reached out and quietly picked up the notebook from the desk, and slipped back into place no the window sill.

_April 14__th_

_Its too __**damn **__quiet.  
><em>_I'm numb._

_Wonder what she'd say if I could hear her right now.  
><em>_Wonder if she'd say anything at all_

_Scribbles.  
><em>_This is worthless. Useless.  
><em>_Screw-up. Idiot._

_Wake-up call,  
><em>_So she says.  
><em>_Wish she'd leave, instead_

_Another day  
><em>_Silence.  
><em>_Numb.  
><em>_Indiscriminate anger_

_Take this away  
><em>_They said its over  
><em>_It's not_

Aria ran her fingers down the page. She had known, even without him saying anything, that somewhere inside of him was stored up anger and emotion. More and more frequently, she wished that they had never told her parents. It seemed like all that had done was ripped apart almost everything in her life. She still had her friends, but with the increasing number of people bullying her, she wondered how long that would last.

With a frustrated huff, she placed the notebook back on the desk and then grabbed hers and got down off the window sill. She walked across the room and placed the notebook on the nightstand before sliding into the bed next to Ezra. His eyes fluttered open as she did so.

"You alright?"

Aria nodded, snuggling into the warmth of the blankets. "Just restless."

She rolled over so that she was facing away from him and adjusted her pillow. Ezra wrapped both his arms around her, holding her right hand as his arm rested against her side.

"Better?"

Aria turned her head to look at him. "Much. Thank you."


	8. You'll Be Alright, No One Can Hurt You

**A/N:** I'm feeling generous this week, hence the 2nd update in four days

And just a quick reply to reviewers: **notinyourlifetimehoney: **Aria's parents are slowly going to change in this story, but there are some major things that happen that cause that change. **As far as me watching the show**, I wasn't going to watch it when it first started in January…I made it a whole hour at home with it on my computer, before I gave in. So I've been keeping up with the episodes.

Anyhow, updates are ALWAYS coming! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I had a few laughs writing it, and it's a fun chapter. Lots of giggles towards the end.

And thank you SO much for your reviews! I can't tell you how much they mean to me! Keep 'em coming!

_Chapter 8_

_You'll Be Alright,  
>No One Can Hurt You Now<em>

Ezra walked into his office and dropped his bag in his chair at his desk. He switched on the lamp in the corner of the room and then walked over to the side table next to the couch and turned that one on as well. He turned to walk back to his desk, only to have his attention turned to the door by a knock.

"Mr. Fitz?"

A female student was standing in his doorway, holding a stack of books. "Can I ask you about this week's homework?"

She was a student in two of his classes; Advanced Composition and Western Literature.

"Sure," he said after a moment, waving her in. She smiled and walked into the room, placing some of her books on the edge of his desk. Ezra walked around the desk and stood next to her, though he kept several inches of space between them.

They proceeded to spend the next forty-five minutes discussing the homework assignment for Advanced Composition, and reworking the thesis she had planned out. They both were rushing out of the room by the time they were finished, with Ezra running late to a meeting, and the student running for one of her classes.

He walked up to the conference room, and then stopped short of the door, seeing Byron in a discussion with the head of the department. Ezra moved to walk past them, only to be stopped by the department head.

"Ezra-"

"Mr. Conrad. Sorry. I'm not interrupting-"

The man shook his head. "No. But we need to talk after the meeting."

Ezra looked to Byron, who was staring at him, though he showed no emotion. He looked back to Mr. Conrad. "Uh- yeah. Okay."

He proceeded into the conference room and took a seat. Slowly but surely, the room filled as people from the English department entered the room. Like most meetings, Ezra felt slightly inadequate. Only a little under a year before, he had been learning from these people, and now they were his colleagues.

Eventually, the meeting started, and Ezra sat bored as he took down notes while different people discussed possible changes that could be made for more effective teaching. It seemed to drag on, to the point where he was ready to fall asleep.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the someone called an ending to the meeting, and people began to file out. Ezra waited as they did, watching as people filed out of the room. After a long few minutes, Mr. Conrad walked over to him.

"Ezra, thanks for waiting."

Ezra nodded. He scratched his thumb gently against his lip, careful of the stitches there. "What's up?"

The older man drummed his fingers against the conference table, taking a moment before he decided to say something. "It's come to my attention that there are personal matters going on between you and Byron Montgomery."

Ezra's jaw dropped slightly. Was he looking at the end of his career in teaching already? "The Montgomery's-"

Mr. Conrad shook his head. "I don't wish to get in the middle of whatever it is that's got you two at each other's throats. What I do care about is the fact you both submitted a request for an 8 week course for Russian Literature, and it's been approved."

"Byron-"

Mr. Conrad shook his head again. "Whatever it is, I don't want to know. What I want, is for the two of you to put whatever it is between you that's wrong, aside. Because come Friday, you two are starting this class. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, you've got a hundred and sixty college students piling into Lawson Hall. So get on it."

Ezra sighed and then nodded. There was nothing else he could do or say to plead his case. He was sure Byron had already tried to get untangled from this mess.

He picked up the legal pad he'd brought with him and made his way out of the room. As much as he desperately wanted to escape back to his room, he headed off in the direction of Byron's office. He walked through the halls, careful to avoid conversation with anyone looking to discuss why he still had bruises on his face, as well as stitches. He'd been avoiding the conversations for a week, and was intending on continuing to do so. No one needed to know why Byron and Michael Montgomery beat the hell out of him.

He walked up to Byron's office and knocked lightly on the open door.

Byron looked up at him as he settled his phone on it's cradle. "You spoke with Conrad?"

Ezra nodded. "I don't know how you want to do this…"

Byron gave an exasperated sigh. "I've got some time to put together a lesson plan tomorrow."

Ezra opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by his cell phone buzzing in his pocket.

"_Talked to the lawyer.  
><em>_On my way over. U free?"  
><em>_-Aria_

He typed out a response and then stuffed his phone back into his pocket. "My last class ends at 2."

Byron nodded, writing something down on the calendar on his desk. "I've got one at four tomorrow, but that should give us enough time to figure something out for Friday. We'll have to talk some time over the weekend."

Ezra nodded. "Should I make sure Aria's with someone else?" His tone was edged with slight rudeness, but he hardly felt bad about it. When Byron didn't answer, he turned to leave.

"How is she?"

Ezra's eyes widened in surprise. He turned around slowly. "You actually _care?_"

Byron leaned against his desk. "I didn't jump on the train with this whole idea to push Aria out of the house. It doesn't mean I agree with this, and I **definitely **don't agree with you two being together. I do care how she is, though."

Ezra exhaled a deep breath and shook his head, closing his eyes briefly in frustration. "Aria is struggling. She hates that you and your wife seem hell-bent on making her choose. If you'd listen-"

"There isn't anything you can say that's going to change our opinion," Byron disagreed.

"Fine." Ezra agreed. He turned and walked back towards his office.

When he arrived, Aria was pushing his door open. He walked up behind her and grabbed her hips, tickling her sides. She squealed and then spun around, slapping her hands playfully against his chest.

"So how was your meeting," he asked when they both had managed to stop giggling.

Aria sat down on his couch. "It was okay. He said he was going to file the petition, and then in a few weeks, there will be a hearing with a judge who will make a ruling. He said he'd call when he has a date."

Ezra sat down next to her and leaned back against the couch. She settled next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her. "It's going to be okay."

Aria sat up after a moment. "I still have to go work from five to nine tonight. I wanted to offer you a proposition, though."

Ezra nodded. "I have a feeling I know what this is about, but alright. What's up?"

"How badly do you love your apartment?" Aria asked.

Ezra chuckled. "Right on target. You want to find some place bigger."

"Yeah," Aria replied slowly. "It's just that, there's so much stuff, and we can barely get around your apartment. I feel more like I'm imposing."

Ezra nodded. "My lease is up at the end of the month. I'm supposed to let the manager know if I want to sign a new one this week. The only problem is, that leaves us eight days to find a place, pack, and move."

Aria gave him a blushing smile. "I've been doing some hunting during my study hall. I tried to stay under anything that would cost more than what _I_can bring in, so it doesn't make everything tight, but I think I found a place. It's small, but bigger than your place, and it's a two-bedroom apartment. But it's halfway between Hollis and my school, and its two blocks away from Retta's. And its only four-fifty a month."

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "You've certainly been doing your homework."

"I just…I don't want you to feel like I'm in your hair constantly," Aria murmured. "I know this has you stressing, and it's not fair. I want things to be alright between us."

Ezra shook his head and pulled her down against him. Aria rested her legs across his lap. "Nothing is wrong between us, and you are **not** a stressor or a bother to me. I love you, Aria. We can do anything you want."

_-  
>It's a science but there's room to but there's room to believe<br>__In the riots, I find you and I breathe  
>- <em>

The weekend came faster than either of them planned. When Aria wasn't in school or at work, she was cramming in as much study time for school and piling in as much homework as she could. Ezra and Byron were struggling to maintain a strained work relationship, just to put together a semblance of a lesson plan, though they seemed to spend more time arguing than they did anything else.

Aria brushed her fingers through her hair, crossing her left leg over her right as she sat on the park bench outside the hospital. Ezra had gone in to have his stitches removed, and she had decided to search through the bookstore a block away for a copy of Sense & Sensibility. It had taken her less time than him though, and she had stopped for coffee along the way to help pass the time.

She bounced her leg absentmindedly, though it was mostly out of nerves. Even though she knew the opposite choice of living with Ezra was living with her parents and being unable to see him, she worried what living together long-term could do their relationship. They'd only been together a little over seven months, and for as much as he knew about her, he didn't know her that well. She was always worried she was going to wake up to him finding text messages from 'A' and start asking questions. Hell, every time she had more bruises turn up from being pushed around at school, she made up an excuse that didn't involve Gina Ryan throwing a football directly at the back of her head or shoving her against the boys locker room door. Mike and her friends had tried to help, but more than anything, Aria just wanted them to stay out of it so they didn't get hurt.

She took a drink from her coffee and looked down at her phone as it chimed on the bench. After a pondering moment, she picked it up and opened the text message.

"_Afraid the cops are catching  
><em>_on to you two? Maybe someone  
><em>_Should tip them off…."  
><em>_-A_

Aria rolled her eyes and placed the phone back on the bench. She wished whoever 'A' was, would just grow a conscience and a set of feelings and get over themselves. Didn't they realize how juvenile and pathetic it was to stalk not just one, but four people? How ridiculous consuming it was to spend so much time paying attention to every little thing she and her friends were doing? Who cared if Hanna wasn't dating the quarterback or if Spencer wanted to be with Toby? None of them had anything to do with Alison's murder.

"Lost in thought?"

She looked up and smiled as Ezra stared back at her. He was dressed casually in a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved grey thermal.

"Not at all. Just enjoying the weather."

Ezra sat down next to her. She offered her coffee to him. He took it from her and took a drink before handing it back.

"It **is** nice out," he agreed. For the first day since spring had come along, the weather had piqued at sixty-five degrees.

Aria ran her palms against her black skinny jeans and looked over at him. "You really ready to go see what might be your new home?"

Ezra furrowed his brow and looked at her suspiciously. "Every time you refer to this place, you call it _my_ home. I know you're having trouble dealing with everything that's happened, but it makes **me** feel like maybe we shouldn't be doing this if you're not completely in on it. Do you actually want to so this Aria, or is it just a quick fix for you?"

Aria looked away from him and watched a three year old charge across the park towards his mother. She shook her head.

"I **do** want to be with you. I just…" She trailed off, turning to look at him. "Its not by anything you've done, but part of me feels like I'm encroaching on your life. I've got a lot of dreams that include you, but I never thought they'd start here."

Ezra nodded, though he was still looking at her like there was something that she wasn't saying. "So do you want this or not?"

Aria tipped her head to the side, giving him a small smile. "Yes. I'm just scared."

Ezra placed his hand tentatively on her knee. "You don't have to be afraid of this. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you."

He leaned into her and brushed his nose up against hers.

"Alright," Aria sighed. "Lets go see this palace."

_-  
>Nothing adds up but agrees,<br>__You becomes us and makes three  
>- <em>

Aria walked out of the spare bedroom, into the sitting room.

"It's small, but it comes with heat and water included in the rent." The woman showing them apartment was leaning against the bar that separated the small kitchen from the empty sitting room.

"And it's four-fifty a month," Ezra asked. He was staring out a window.

The manager nodded. "It's open now, but I'll need a security deposit and first months rent up front."

Ezra turned around and looked over at Aria. She gave a curt nod, trying not to be obvious about it. They had told the woman showing them the apartment that she was just a friend. She walked over to another window in the sitting room and rested her hands on the sill, looking out at the back yard.

"Sounds good," Ezra said. "Can I sign the papers today?"

"I can get them drawn up and ready for you in an hour."

"Great. Thanks."

Aria turned around and followed Ezra and the woman out of the apartment. It was a connected ground-floor complex that came with it's own double parking space. They over to his car and Aria got into the passenger seat while Ezra got into the driver's side.

"Did you really like it?" Aria asked him.

Ezra nodded. "There's more room. At least, more than there has been since your books took over the top of my dresser."

They both laughed quietly.

"Did **you** like it?" Ezra asked.

Aria thought about it for a moment. She didn't say it out loud, but regardless of how beautiful the place was or even could be, it wasn't her own bedroom. Her own home.

She nodded. "I do."

He smiled at her, but they were quickly thrown off by his phone buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out and then frowned slightly. "I have to go meet your dad. This whole combined class thing is the last thing we should be doing right now."

Aria settled back in her seat and pulled her seatbelt on. "Maybe…" She shrugged. "Maybe we should take it as a good sign."

Ezra frowned. He didn't want to see Aria getting her hopes up. "When I talked to him on Wednesday, he still refused to even hear our side of the story. Thursday and Friday, he snowballed anything that didn't have to do with putting this class together."

Aria dropped her head back against the headrest.

"Look, I don't want to hurt you. I just don't want to see you get hurt because your parents aren't changing their minds. I know it sounds a little cold, but maybe you should face the reality that your parents really aren't willing to budge."

Aria looked over at him. She could tell that he was being honest, and that it wasn't because he wanted to see her suffer.

"I know," she said after a moment. "And I thank you for being honest with me. I know you're right, and I need to stop waiting around for them to realize, because it might not happen. It's just-"

"Hard." Ezra finished for her. "I'm not pushing you, Aria. I just don't want to see you waiting around on your parents to suddenly wake up while they're continuing to give you the cold shoulder."

_-  
>Wipe the mark of sadness from my face<br>__Show me that your love will never change  
>- <em>

Aria shoved a box full of books away from her and moved her hands behind her head, pulling her hair up to put in a ponytail.

"I can't believe we're actually in the Fitz's apartment," Hanna laughed.

Ezra looked over from the kitchen. He was covering dishes in newspaper. "I **am** right here, Hanna."

Aria blushed and shook her head, folding together the bottom of another box.

"Oh, Ezra," Spencer whispered. Her voice was dripping with tease.

"Seriously?" Aria said, looking over at her. "I can pack books alone."

"You want to carry them through this apartment building alone too?" Spencer laughed. As much as she tried to taunt Aria, they all knew she was just joking.

Aria stood and grabbed a stack of Ezra's books off of the bookcase and placed them inside the new box. She pulled down a tattered book and looked it over before looking over at him.

"How many copies of _To Kill A Mockingbird _do you own?" She laughed.

Ezra closed a box of plates and placed them on the floor. "Three. Why?"

Aria furrowed her brow, looking back down at the book. "Because maybe you should do away with this copy. It looks ready to fall apart."

Ezra widened his eyes and walked around the counter, across the room to where she was standing, next to his bed. "Why would I part with this? It's a first edition."

Spencer looked up from one of Aria's journals that she was flipping through. "You've got a piece of gold like that in an apartment building like _this_?"

Aria raised an eyebrow, looking down at Spencer. "So, if we don't have a security alarm on our front door and a three car garage that locks electronically, we shouldn't have expensive masterpieces?"

Spencer frowned. "I didn't mean it that way."

Hanna turned her head, holding another book in her hands. She turned towards Ezra and Aria.

"It's a number, it's a girl, it's a song-"

Aria dove across the bed and tried to snatch the book from Hanna's hands. Hanna twisted at the last second, continuing to read.

"Smooth. Pearl joy packed. Gold falafel, as through ice…" She furrowed her brow and looked up at Ezra. "What's a falafel?"

"A deep-fried ground ball of chickpeas," Spencer muttered as she continued to read Aria's journal.

Ezra pulled Aria up off the bed. "Happiness," he said with a smile.

Aria rolled her eyes and shook her head, even though the corners of her mouth were tugging upwards into a smile as well.

"Its four thirty. Morning with phone calls. It's deaf mute. It's cheap. Maybe bingo. Lucky night? Something says it smells bad." Hanna pursed her lips. "Fitzy writes you love poems, Aria?"

Ezra scratched the side of his head. "I'm gonna go get some takeout before my ego is wiped out by four sixteen year-olds with flying hormones. Chinese okay?"

Aria nodded, pushing up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Ezra turned his head towards her and kissed her forehead before walking across the room and grabbing his wallet off the counter. He walked out of the apartment a moment later, closing the door behind him.

Aria turned back to the bookcase behind Ezra's bed and started stacking books inside the box again.

"So, we wanted to know something." Spencer said as she placed Aria's journal into a box.

Aria settled a stack of textbooks inside the box. "What's up?"

Emily finally piped in. She settled down a stack of dresses into a duffel bag "Your birthday is next week."

Aria pursed her lips for a moment and shook her head. "Yeah. I've noticed. How exciting." Her tone was less than excited.

Spencer pushed up from the floor and sat down on the end of the bed. After a second, it phased her that she was sitting on Ezra's bed. She pushed off of it just as quickly as she'd sat down. "We still want to be able to try and make special for you. We want to do something for you, even if your parents won't."

Aria settled the box she was filling on the floor and sat down on the bed. "It's weird. It doesn't feel like my birthday is next week." She looked over at her friends. "How did so much change, so fast? What happened to all of us?"

No one answered her. Eventually, she shook her head and moved off the bed. She squatted down and closed the box she had just filled before grabbing another from the stack leaning against the wall. She folded down the bottom of it and started filling it with what was finally, after three hours, the last of the books that she and Ezra had between the two of them.

"We just thought we could do something small," Hanna said, approaching the subject again.

"Just the four of us," Emily offered.

"And Fitz, of course," Spencer said. "Assuming he wants to hang out with us."

Hanna nodded, exchanging a look with Spencer and Emily. "We thought we could go get dinner at the grill or something. We just want to be able to spend some of your birthday with you."

Aria nodded, settling Winesburg, Ohio into the box she was stuffing. "I need to talk to Ezra about what he wants to do but that seems doable. Assuming he even knows my birthday is next week."

She mumbled the last sentence under her breath, but it didn't go unnoticed by Spencer and Hanna.

Hanna and Emily busied themselves with the task of continuing to fold clothes and place them inside duffel bags and boxes, while Spencer nonchalantly snuck Aria's phone off the edge of the bed. She scrolled through Aria's contacts for Ezra's number and then memorized it quickly before putting the phone back down and picking up her own.

"_Yo, Fitzy. U know  
><em>_Aria's birthday is next week?"  
><em>_-Spencer_

She settled her phone beside herself and then picked up a stack of Ezra's jeans and placed them in a box. A moment later, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and read the reply.

"_Of course. You planning  
><em>_something?"  
><em>_-Ezra_

Spencer tilted her phone towards Emily and then Hanna, trying to be careful to not be so obvious as to attract Aria's attention and make her wonder what they were up to. She turned her phone back towards herself and hit the reply button.

"_Just a little dinner.  
><em>_You got anything planned?"  
><em>_-Spencer_

She sent the message off and then stood and walked into the sitting room. Ezra's choice in movie selection was minimal; most of what he owned was books. There was very little to pack besides clothing and dishes. She began the process of pulling movies off of the small shelf they rested on near his TV.

After a moment, her phone buzzed with another reply. She picked it up.

"Is Toby in desperate need of you, Spence?" Aria asked.

"_I have a few ideas.  
><em>_Im sure I could work in  
><em>_2 hours alone, tho. Work 4 u?"  
><em>_-Ezra_

Spencer looked over her shoulder at Aria. She had begun the task of emptying the dresser of her and Ezra's undergarments into a box. "No. Just my mom wondering when I'm coming home."

"Do you have to leave?"

Spencer shook her head. "No. I told her I'd be home late."

She turned back to her phone and typed out a reply.

"_Sounds great. Ur not  
><em>_Buying a ring or anything, right?"  
><em>_-Spencer_

She turned her phone down to silent and then resumed pulling movies off of the shelf in front of her.

"Ew, ew!" Hanna squealed.

Aria raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What?"

"You realize you're touching his boxers, right? Like where his junk sits all day?"

Spencer and Aria snorted and Emily laughed as her face turned bright red.

Aria picked her phone up off the bed as she shook her head at Hanna. She typed out a message. A moment later, Hanna's phone chimed next to her. She picked it up, and then proceeded to turn bright red as she read the message.

"_it's a little hard to care  
><em>_When that "junk" has been  
><em>_In your mouth… :P"  
><em>_-Aria_

Hanna quickly deleted the message and resumed putting clothes into boxes while Aria continued folding underwear and bras and stacking them inside a box. When Hanna had garnered up enough nerve, she looked up at Aria. Aria smirked at her and ran her tongue across her top lip and then proceeded to fall into a fit of giggles as Hanna blushed again.

Spencer turned around from her text-message reading. "What is **so **funny?"

Aria shook her head, struggling to contain her own laughter. "Hanna is, um, _swallowing_ her own words." She proceeded to fall apart again into a fit of giggling.

Spencer shook her head as she looked down at her phone at the same as the door to the apartment opened.

"_I'm CRAZY in love with  
><em>_Aria. Not suicidal. Eight  
><em>_months does not a marriage,  
><em>_make."  
><em>_-Ezra_

Spencer nodded towards him in approval as he settled two bags of food down on the coffee table.

Ezra looked towards Aria, who was dangerously close to falling off the bed from how hard she was laughing. His brow furrowed in confusion.

"What has her in stitches?" He asked.

Spencer and Emily both shrugged. "Something to do with something Hanna said."

Aria struggled to her feet, holding her ribs as she tried to stifle her giggles. She walked over to him and he grabbed both of her forearms as she rested her palms on his, trying to stay upright and stop laughing.

"I'll-" Giggle. "Tell you." Giggle. "Later." Giggle.

Her knees gave out beneath her, and Ezra went down with her, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as the sat there. When Aria finally managed to stop laughing, she rested her head against his chest, gasping in heavy breaths.

"Ahh…Ow. My sides hurt." Still she laughed as she attempted to whimper. One exchanged look between she and Hanna and it took everything within her to not fall into giggles again.

"Maybe I should just go," Hanna said. "If you can't contain your enthusiasm at my expense." She teased.

"No, Hanna, stay," Aria drawled out. She reached out and grabbed Hanna's hands to pull herself to her feet. Ezra stood up behind her and walked back over to the coffee table, opening the bags of Chinese food.

"I got three different kinds of chicken, several varieties of rice…I brought food. Grab cartons and dig in," he said as he started placing cartons on the table. He settled out five sets of chop sticks.

Aria walked into the kitchen and grabbed some forks before she returned to the sitting area. Hanna had taken one side of the couch while Ezra was on the other end. Emily had taken the chair across from them, and Spencer was curled up near the entertainment center. They each had grabbed a carton and were proceeding to chow down.

Aria grabbed a carton of sesame chicken (sans the sesames) and then was suddenly yanked backwards into Ezra's lap. She swung her legs up onto the couch and crossed them at the ankles, smiling at him. "Thanks for the food."

He nodded, shoving his chopsticks into her carton. He stole a piece of chicken and then grabbed his carton off the table next to the couch and wrapped an arm around her so that he could get to his own food.

"Have you guys started studying for finals." Spencer asked.

Aria raised an eyebrow at her, chewing a mouthful of dirty rice that Ezra had shoved into her mouth.

"Have you finished the study guides and bonus packets," she teased.

Spencer blushed, grabbing a bottle of water from the table. She'd supplied the refreshments when she had arrived earlier in the afternoon. "It's not as ridiculous as it seems."

"You worry too much, Spence," Hanna badgered. "We're all going to do just fine…As soon as we get our study guides."

Spencer tilted her head judgingly at Hanna. "Stop listening to Gaga's new album and put away the Vogue's while finals season is going on, and you'll get by with more than just a C minus average this semester."

"_And_ stop texting Caleb every three seconds," Emily offered up.

Hanna glared at her. "This coming from the girl who doesn't go a single day without texting Maya at least fifty times. I swear I heard you talking to her under your blankets last night."

Spencer and Aria smiled at each other, trying not to laugh at Emily and Hanna. They quickly regretted it when the onslaught came towards them.

"Who's laughing," Emily said to Spencer. "Toby doesn't even go to Rosewood anymore, and yet he spends more time there this semester then he did last."

Hanna gave Aria a doe-eyed stare-down. "I don't think I even need to say anything. Or should I mention-"

Aria threw a chopstick at her. Hanna threw it back and Aria resumed eating her food. The five of them sat in silence for a few minutes as they all struggled not to say something to provoke another teasing fest from each other, and Ezra sat by, confused.

"What does Hanna know," he whispered into her ear when conversation had picked up again.

Aria tilted her head towards his, trying not to be obvious. "I said I'd tell you later."

"So should we all meet up at five on the first?" Spencer asked.

Aria turned her attention towards Spencer as Hanna scrolled through something on her phone.

"We're doing what on my birthday?"

Hanna nonchalantly pushed her phone across the middle seat, tapping the middle of Ezra's hand while Aria had her attention on Spencer.

"Meeting at the grill? Unless you want to go somewhere else. I mean, I guess we could all go to Philadelphia for dinner, I guess…"

Aria shook her head. "No, no. The grill is great."

Ezra's eyes were wide as Hanna pulled her phone back into her hand. Aria opened her mouth to ask what she had been doing, but Hanna's phone rang a moment later.

"Oops. That's Caleb. I'll be back in a few."

She stood and walked around all them and then walked out of the apartment, taking her conversation out into the hallway.

Aria leaned forward to settle her food carton on the coffee table. When she settled back in Ezra's lap, she turned towards him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. He licked sauce off of his lips and raised his eyebrows at her as his mouth curved into a smile.

"What did I miss," she asked nervously.

Ezra shook his head, leaning into her and whispering in her ear. "I didn't know you liked to brag to your friends so much."

Aria's own eyes grew wide in surprise and she blushed. She looked towards Spencer and Emily. They were both whispering to each other. Probably about what to get her for her birthday. She looked back to Ezra.

"I was teasing Hanna," she explained. "She made a big deal of me folding boxers."

Ezra nodded, though he still had a smirk on his face. "Certainly…comfortable, aren't you?"

Aria glared at him, almost annoyed at such a comment. "We are _sleeping_together, aren't we? Or did I imagine the shower-"

He moved to cover her mouth with a finger to shush her, but she had her mouth open and his finger ended up inside her mouth instead. She bit down on it gently, and then licked away leftover sauce from the sesame chicken. She brushed her tongue against the tip of his finger and smirked at him.

Ezra cleared his throat and attempted to tug his finger from her mouth. Just as he got it free, though, Aria grabbed his hand and licked the side of his thumb.

"Messy eater," she said, ribbing him further. She bit down on the tip of his thumb and ran her tongue over it while he continued to glare at her.

"Good God," Spencer cut in. Aria looked over at her, though she still had Ezra's hand gripped in her own. "You two could do a porno without ever taking your clothes off."

Ezra's face turned bright red. Aria just laughed. She let go of his hand, but it quickly made its way towards the inside of her thighs, squeezing her right leg tightly. Aria looked back at him and he looked down and then gestured towards the bed as he gnawed on the inside of his cheek. She had caused a reaction.

Taking a hint, Spencer stood and folded up her unfinished cartons of food. "We should go. We'll see you tomorrow at school."

"But we were just starting to have fun," Aria said with a chuckle. Spencer rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Emily, oblivious to the situation, just went along with Spencer. Even though she wasn't sure why they were suddenly leaving, she knew she didn't need the 4-1-1.

Spencer took one of the empty bags and placed their unfinished cartons inside it and then grabbed Hanna's before she and Emily grabbed their other things and headed out of the apartment without another word.

Aria listened for a moment after they walked out.

"_But I wasn't done eating yet-"_

"_Trust me, you don't want to see what's about to happen in there," _came Spencer's voice.

"_What?"_ Hanna asked.

Then there was inaudible whispering. A few moments later, click-clacking faded down the hallway as the girls left the building.

Aria turned towards Ezra, planting her knees on either sides of his hips. She wrapped his arms around his neck. "Did I _bring up_ a problem."

Ezra scooted forward on the couch, grounding her hips down hard onto his. "You did more than that."

Aria slipped her legs around him and crossed them behind his back, running her fingers into his hair. "Oh, Mr. Fitz, how ever will you punish me?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I've got a few ideas. And some handcuffs."

Aria giggled even as she blushed. Ezra smiled and turned her head back towards him. He kissed her, lovingly and passionately. Aria returned the kiss, tightening her arms around his neck.

"I love you." He murmured when they broke away for air.

Aria smirked. "I love you, too. Now, aren't you gonna frisk me?"


	9. You Will Be Safe In My Arms

**A/N: **I just wanted to come by here and say this before we get on with the story: A lot of people have been saying "they need to just talk about everything." I just want to remind you guys,** this story is moving in a day-to-day format, for the most part.** All those discussions are coming, but as PLL has shown us, you have to remember that talking about it sounds all good and fine from the outside, but when it actually takes place, those are hard conversations to have for both parties.

Anyway, onward!

_Chapter 9_

_You Will Be Safe In My Arms_

Aria dropped her school bag on the floor along with two boxes as she kicked the door shut behind her. Ezra had only had two classes that morning, and had enlisted Hardy's help to get all the furniture from his apartment moved. It had amazed her that in a matter of two days, they had everything packed up, and most of it already moved. She felt bad that he had to do most of the work though. She had spent Sunday morning and part of Monday evening working.

Ezra walked out from the master bedroom. "Nice to see you," he teased.

Aria smiled at him as she pulled a bag from one of the boxes. "I brought dinner?"

Ezra nodded. He flipped off the light in the bedroom and walked over into the kitchen with her. There were boxes stacked inside of each other, and dishes all over the counter.

"I meant to get some of this put away, but then your dad called about something with tomorrow's class, and I got caught up…"

Aria shrugged. "It'll get done. No one said everything had to be put away right away, just because we had to get out of the apartment within a week."

Ezra nodded, handing her a plate while she pulled food out of the paper bag in front of her. She handed him a wrapped burger and then placed a set of fries on her own plate.

"I have something to show you, though," he said cheerfully.

Aria folded down the empty bag and followed him as they walked out of the kitchen, into the dining area slash sitting room. She settled her plate on the table as Ezra settled his own down. He reached his hand out to her. Aria took the offer.

Ezra pulled her in front of him and placed his hands over her eyes. "Just walk forward."

Aria did as she was told, modifying her movements as he told her to. A few moments later, he removed his hands from her eyes. "Keep them closed, okay?"

"They're closed, I promise."

She heard a door open, and had a desperation to peak, but she waited. Ezra pushed her forward a few steps. "Okay, open your eyes."

Aria opened her eyes. Her jaw dropped. There was full-sized bed in the spare bedroom, along with a desk and a chair.

"I know it's not much, but I figured you need a place to study other than the floor in front of the TV, and I want you to have a place you feel like you can escape to. I know it's not _your _room, but…"

Aria shook her head, her mouth agape as she turned around to face him. "Ezra, its… perfect. I can't believe you did all of this for me."

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He smiled at her reaction, hugging her back.

"It's not anything special. Hardy mentioned something the other day about getting new furniture with his new girlfriend. I just…"

He trailed off as they pulled apart. Aria stared up at him curiously. "What?"

"I don't want you to feel like you can't have a place to call your own because you chose me. I want you to know you always have something that's just yours."

Aria nodded. She leaned against him as she looked back at the bed behind her. "It's _more_ than I could have asked for, Ezra. It's amazing. You really didn't have to do this."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "Its really not that big of a deal. The only thing that's new is the mattress, and that's only because- Well, it was Hardy's."

They both laughed as they parted and headed back out of the room and walked over to the table. Aria pulled a handful of bills out of her pocket and placed them into the small bowl the rested in the middle of the table. She tossed her car keys inside of it as well, and then pulled her legs up onto her chair and crossed them as she picked up a fry.

"So how are all your new students," Aria asked.

Ezra shrugged, unwrapping his burger. "Eager to learn. At least, I hope so. They all had laptops with them. My sister is even in it."

Aria furrowed her brow. "Is that ethical?"

"I think so," Ezra replied, though he wasn't totally sure. "Your dad offered to cover all of her grading so that it wasn't biased at all. She seemed to prefer his list of reading material to mine. Probably because she read most of what I had listed."

Aria nodded. After a moment of silence, she dug into her food, and things stayed silent between them for the next few minutes as they both piled their meals into their bodies. Neither of them had had anything to eat in over eight hours. Ezra had had to fit in an early lunch at 11:30 with Adriana and Aria had barely had time to fit lunch in between finishing up homework for her science class and avoiding the principal. Ever since Mike and Noel's fight in the hallway, Mr. Davis had been watching her with an eagle eye.

After a few minutes, when most of their food was gone, Aria settled the remainder of her burger on her plate. "I got a phone call today."

Ezra nodded as he chewed on a fry. "I'm sure you got several," he teased.

Aria laughed and shook her head. "From my lawyer! He called and said that my court date is set for May 25th."

"That's a month from now," Ezra replied.

Aria nodded, chewing on one of her fries. She swallowed. "I think it's a culmination of me proving I can pay bills on my own, stay in school, and making sure that my parents and I don't suddenly decide to change our minds."

Ezra nodded. He picked his phone up off the table. "Given the idea that that doesn't change any time soon, exactly four weeks from now, you'll officially be emancipated."

Aria chuckled, but it wasn't because she thought anything was funny. "Yeah. A whole 11 months before I should be."

She looked up at Ezra. His entire demeanor had stiffened. Aria exhaled hard and shook her head. "I'm **sorry**. Its not you. Its just hard. My mother treats me like a leper in the classroom. I was the only one with answers to questions she was asking about Pride and Prejudice today and she refused to let me answer them."

Ezra simply nodded. They had already had the "stiffen up your upper-lip" conversation. He knew to some degree that as much as he told her that she had to get over it, that it would take time. After all, if someone ripped his parents out of his life, it would hurt him too.

"I had an idea, if you're up for it," he offered after he had finished off his food.

Aria was chewing up the last of her burger. "What?"

"Adriana and I were talking about taking a weekend trip up to New York City the weekend after this one coming up."

Aria furrowed her brow, finishing her food. "Doesn't your mom live in New York?"

Ezra nodded as he stood from where he was seated. He picked up both their plates and walked into the kitchen with them while she stood and grabbed her school bag from where it rested by the door.

"I just figured, it might be a good time for you two to meet each other. We _are_ living under the same roof at this point." He explained.

Ezra walked out of the kitchen and followed Aria as she walked into the bedroom. She placed her book bag near the end of it and then crawled up onto it and sat down.

"Would that be something you're interested in doing?"

Aria chewed on her bottom lip as she considered his offer. "It's a little nerve-wracking; the prospect of meeting your mother."

Ezra nodded, sitting down in the chair at his desk. "Well, you don't have to decide right now. We can discuss it more later. Or, you don't have to go. I do know that Adriana talked about going shopping with you, though."

He smirked at the last thing he said, knowing he'd caught her attention, even if it was just slightly. He turned his attention back to the paper turned open on his desk, and Aria laid down on the bed as she went to work on her homework.

Silence was met only by the scribbling of pens and rustling of papers as they both worked. Aria was struggling to get her homework for the next two days done so that she could have her nights free from schoolwork once she was finished at Retta's. Ezra seemed to be competing with Byron on who could be more prepared for their students.

When she finally closed her books two hours later, Ezra spun around in his chair. She rested her head on her folded arms and yawned.

"I really should've grabbed a cup of coffee before I left tonight," Aria muttered.

Ezra chuckled. "Tired?"

She nodded, brushing a large portion of hair behind her ear. "And I desperately need a shower."

Ezra stood from his seat and teasingly pulled her off the bed. "Go shower. You smell like fries."

Aria laughed and grabbed her bathroom hanging off the door and trudged out of the room. A moment after the bathroom door shut, her phone chimed on the bed. Ezra picked it up, looking towards the bathroom and then down at the face on the LED screen. It was Spencer. He opened the message.

"_Hey, remember talking about  
>The expo next week?<br>Will you do it? Sing?"  
>-Spencer<em>

Ezra set the phone back on the bed, and looked down at the notebook resting on the bed. He thought it was her geometry book, but it had words scribbled in it. He picked it up.

_MAKE YOU BELIEVE: (?) _

_i'm not shy boy,  
>i can be what you want<br>you're a bright, shining toy  
>you just have to respond…<em>

_i'll make you believe in me  
>i can be what you want me to be<br>tonight is the night  
>where I'll make you see<br>that I can be anything, anything, anything  
>that you want from me<em>

if you wanna  
>confess all your sins<br>you know you've got 'em  
>the room's in a spin,<br>the fever's pitched,  
>i swear there's no doubt,<br>i'm legit, I'm no counterfeit

He smiled, settling the notebook back on the bed. He knew Aria had the talent to write a song in less than a week, and people needed to hear this.

He picked up her phone off her bed and typed a reply.

"_Absolutely."  
>-Aria<br>Message is sending… …. Message sent!_

_-  
>What about now, how 'bout tonight<br>- _

Aria sat down in her mother's classroom and settled her bag beside her. She was nearly half an hour early, but the other girls had asked her to come early, and Ella hadn't shown up to work just yet.

She pulled her journal from her bag and opened it up. There was a piece of paper sticking out of it where she'd finished off the night before that she didn't recall shoving inside of it. It was a piece of torn-off notebook paper.

She opened up the notebook and picked up the piece of paper. For a moment, she was nervous that it was a message from A. God only knew what would happen to her if A actually got a hold of her journal and started spreading around the things that were written in it.

She unfolded the small piece of paper.

_**You should finish this. It's phenomenal  
>-Ezra<strong>_

She smiled at the note and stared at it for a long moment before pulling a folder from her school bag and placing it inside of it. Once she closed the folder up, she settled it under her journal and uncapped a pen, starting to write.

She looked up when she heard footsteps in the doorway. Hanna and Spencer walked in the room.

"You're earlier than I am," Spencer said incredulously. She walked over to the desk next to Aria's. She was dressed in a pair of black skinnies and a white button-down dress shirt with a grey vest over it. Hanna was in dark blue-jeans with knee-high brown boots and a sparkly silver top, with a black blazer to top it off.

Aria was in a typical ensemble. She had on thigh-high tights and knee-high boots, matched with a black dress that fell mid-way to her thighs, and a deep crimson cardigan.

Spencer placed a cup of coffee on Aria's desk.

"So why did you want us here so early this morning?" She asked.

Spencer furrowed her brow. "You agreed to do the expo next week. I need to know what you're planning to play."

Aria shook her head. "I said I'd think about it, not that I was sure of it."

Spencer shook her head in disagreement. She grabbed her phone off her desk and scrolled through her text message until she found the one that Ezra had sent the night before.

"See?" She said as she handed over her phone. Aria shook her head and then picked her phone up off the edge of her desk. She scrolled through her own text messages. Sure enough, the message was there in black and white.

She looked at the time stamp and then thought for a moment before she opened a new text message.

"_Did you tell Spencer I would do the expo?"  
>-Aria<br>Message is sending… …. Message sent!_

A moment later, her phone chimed in her hand.

"_Possibly. You should finish that song and play it.  
>I LOVE YOU! :)"<br>-Ezra_

Aria rolled her eyes and settled her phone back on the desk. "I guess I _am_ playing. The song isn't finished though…"

Spencer widened her gaze at Aria. "Are you going to finish it like, tonight? I need the set list finished by Friday."

"It's only Tuesday," Aria chuckled. She grabbed the coffee that Spencer had given her and took a drink from it. When Spencer's nervous glare became too much, she settled the cup back on the desk.

"Look, I've gotta work tonight, but it's only a three hour shift, so I'll get it finished when I'm done." Aria insisted.

"Why not play this?" Hanna asked. "Extra Ordinary?"

Aria looked over at her and shook her head with a huff. She snatched her journal out of Hanna's hands. "Because that one is…personal."

Spencer leaned forward in her seat. "You mean for _Ezra_?" She teased in a fake sexy voice.

Aria whipped her head around and glared at Spencer, shoving her shoulder. Spencer and Hanna both laughed while Aria closed her notebook and stuffed it into her book bag.

As she sat back up in her seat, Ella walked through the doorway. She stopped momentarily and Hanna stopped talking mid-sentence. They all stared at each other for a moment before Ella walked over to her desk and set her things down.

"So do you have all that homework done for tonight?" Spencer asked, changing the subject.

Aria nodded. "For tonight and tomorrow. Why?"

Spencer shrugged, taking a drink from her coffee. "I might've been too distracted by Toby to finish my homework last night," she muttered.

"Prompt and studious Spencer didn't get her homework done last night?" Aria feigned a gasp.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I'll get it done in study hall. I just didn't get any geometry done. I thought maybe…"

Aria laughed. "I'll help."

Emily walked into the room a few minutes later and walked over to them.

"How's Emily?" Hanna teased.

"She's great," Emily replied cheerfully.

"Teach me how to ignore their teasing comments," Aria joked to Emily.

Emily shrugged. "It's an art." She looked over her shoulder. Ella was shuffling things around on her desk. "How is the Fitz?"

"Saucy with a side of sweet?" Spencer giggled.

"Oh lord, don't even **go** there," Hanna chimed in.

Aria looked over at Hanna and stuck her tongue out at her and then ran her tongue over her lips in a teasing manner. "He seems to enjoy strawberry lip balm."

"I always figured he'd be a fan of mint," Spencer laughed.

"Ladies," Ella said as she looked up from her desk. "Why don't we take our seats? Class starts in a few minutes."

Spencer and Emily switched places as Aria looked up at the clock. Class did in fact start in just a little more than five minutes. She reached up onto her desk and turned her phone down to silent and then placed it inside her bag. She pulled out Pride and Prejudice and then grabbed her notebook for the class and opened it up to a fresh page.

Ella scrawled something across the top of the board, and kept her back turned to the class as she continued to write on it, clear up until the bell rang. When it finally did, she called out for everyone to take their seats and quiet down while she finished scrawling something on the board.

"Noel, take your seat."

"Wha-"

"I have eyes in the back of my head," she said simply as she continued writing on the chalkboard.

Noel looked to Aria.

"She totally does," Aria insisted as she scribbled the date in the top right corner of her notebook.

Ella finally turned around a moment later when she had finished writing on the chalkboard.

"You all have a test coming up Friday on Pride and Prejudice, but today, I thought we'd take a detour and have a class discussion. The quote up on the board is where our discussion lies. Take a moment to read it, gather your thoughts. We'll discuss."

Aria looked past Ella at the quote.

_The human life is made up of choices: Yes or no. In or out. Up or down. _

_And then there are the choices that matter: To love or to hate. To be a hero, or to be a coward. To fight, or to give in. To live or to die. That's the important choice. And it's not always in our hands. _

_The human life is made up of choices: To live or to die. That's the important choice, and it's not always in our hands._

_-Patrick Dempsey __**"Grey's Anatomy" **_

After several long minutes, Ella stood from her desk and walked around it. She leaned against the front of it and crossed her arms. "Any thoughts? Arguments?"

She looked around the room, before her vision ultimately fell on Aria. Aria was writing something in her notebook.

"Aria?"

Aria looked up, slightly surprised that she was being called out. Ella hadn't taken a single answer from her in class since she had kicked her out of the house.

"I-um…" she looked up at the board and then gulped. "I guess, I agree with it, to a degree."

"How so?" Ella countered.

Aria shook her head, pointing her pen towards the blackboard. "Well, why does it have to be one or the other. Why can't it be both?"

"Explicate," Ella replied.

Aria turned her pen so that she was twisting it between the fingers of her non-writing hand. "Why do you have to have to choose between love or hate? And why do you have to be a coward if you're not a hero? I mean then isn't that saying that if you refuse to take a bullet for someone else out of fear, but you push them out of the way, you're being a coward? How is that cowardly?

And just because you choose not to accept something right in front of your face, then why does that mean you do the opposite and disregard it? Just because you don't love something, why does that mean you have to hate it?"

Spencer's hand was raised in the air. Ella nodded to her. "Spencer?"

Spencer shifted in her seat and looked over at Aria. "It's easy to say that you want to choose the in-between in theory. But actually doing it is a different story entirely. More often than not, people choose to do one or the other because the prospect of meeting in the middle means the risk of judgment. It's not fair for the person on the other side of the situation, but that often doesn't matter to the decider, or at least not enough. It's easier to hide from scrutiny if you choose not to face it."

"Alright, you two are posing the argument that the person making this choice hasn't made a definitive choice yet, or isn't doing it because of a possible third option. What if they've already made their choice?" Ella asked.

Spencer shrugged, pursing her lips. "Then they're ultimately forced to face the consequences that befall them because of their choice."

"So for a child who defies their parents and is pushed out of the home?"

Spencer gulped. She looked back at Aria for a moment. Aria stared back at her.

"She faces the pain of not having her parents in her life, and all the responsibilities that come with living on her own."

"And her parents?"

"Are risking the possibility of a non-existent relationship with their child," Aria piped in. "Emancipation arguments, lack of communication. Loss of a child entirely."

She and Ella stared each other down for several minutes, until finally Ella nodded in succession.

The rest of the class proceeded with little discussion. They were ordered to write a three page paper on their thoughts on the dynamics of making choices; specifically the ones that were referred to on the board. When the class ended, everyone was ordered to pass in their homework from the night before, while Ella returned their homework from the week before.

Aria stared at the top of her paper as she walked towards the door with Spencer at her side. It was the homework that she'd had to e-mail in because someone had conveniently made hers disappear.

"_B. Thought's could've been expanded more." _

Aria was slightly surprised that her mother was giving such fair grades; or at least what she seemed to believe was fair. Aria sighed heavily and stuffed the paper into her bag.

Just as she was about to walk out of the room with Spencer, Ella called her name. Her arm was linked in Spencer's.

"I'll catch up with you," she insisted as her hand slipped off of Spencer's arm. Spencer nodded and walked out of the room. Aria turned around and looked back at Ella. "What's up?"

"I'd like to speak with you at lunch," Ella said.

Aria exhaled a deep breath and then nodded. She turned and walked out of the room, only to jump when Mike snuck up behind her.

"C'mon!" She squealed. "You scared me half to death."

He laughed, passing her a book. "I liberated it from your bedroom this morning."

Aria looked down. It was her own copy of Pride and Prejudice. She smiled up at Mike thankfully. "Thanks. Does mom know?"

He shrugged. "She doesn't pay much attention to anything that has to do with going in or out of your room. I think it upsets her to think about you not being there."

Aria laughed at the comment. "Right, because it was so much better those three days I spent every minute in there crying."

Mike shrugged again. "Hey, I don't pretend to understand mom and dad. I just got what you asked for."

Aria nodded. She looked over at him as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "How're you? I feel like we haven't really talked since last week."

He smiled at her. "I'm okay. Really. Your therapist found someone good for me to see. It's all good. How're you?"

Aria shrugged as she let out a long breath. "Tired. Working constantly. I've got a bit of a crazy day today, but we should have dinner some time this week."

Mike furrowed his brow at her. "You mean you, me, and Fitz?"

Aria shrugged, handing him her coffee so that she could put her book in her bag. Once she had, she took back her cup of coffee. "Or it could just be me and you. He's got a late night Wednesday; won't be back until like 10 PM. You up for it?"

"Sure," Mike replied. He stopped walking as they reached the door to his next class. "I'll talk to you later."

Aria nodded. She stopped and watched as he walked into the classroom, and then headed off towards study hall.

When she arrived, Spencer was standing against the wall, waiting for her. She stood up straight and they walked into the classroom together. It was a science room with large tables. They walked into the room together and sat down at a table in the back together. They both dug through their bags and pulled out notebooks and textbooks, and proceeded to settle them on the table. Aria turned open her geometry book to the homework from the night before, and then flipped open her notebook to the same page, and settled it on top of her textbook before grabbing another notebook from her bag and opening it to a fresh page.

"What're you going to do?" Spencer asked her.

Aria shrugged. "The three page paper my mother is demanding. I have to work from three-thirty to six-thirty, and then I'm meeting Ezra over at Hollis. He's helping me sand down the last of my wood so that I can paint it and then put it together."

"Wood?" Spencer asked.

Aria nodded. "The stool I'm making for my extension class? I think I might have to drop it after I finish this project, though. I barely have any time to get over there between school and work. There's a big final coming up after these projects are done. We're all being forced to do something that isn't like anything we've done before. I've got to make something on the pottery wheel."

"Are you any good with it?" Spencer asked.

Aria snorted. "I can't even get the clay to stay together half the time. I'll just make a bowl or something. I've managed to shape one alright before."

"And what happened to it?" Spencer asked.

Aria looked around the room innocently. "Nothing. It's the bowl Ezra and I keep our keys in."

_-  
>I'm not depressed or hopeless<br>I'm only walking in a blur  
>- <em>

The rest of the morning passed swiftly, and by the time lunch rolled around, Aria had managed to get started on Thursday's homework for some of her classes.

As she walked towards her mother's office, she kept her head down for the most part. Girls were still gossiping about her every time she turned around and they were still shoving her into things, but if she kept eye contact to a minimum, it seemed to lighten up at least a little bit.

She walked up to Ella's office door and knocked lightly on it. Ella looked up at her and waved her hand for Aria to come in as she settled the telephone on her desk down on it's cradle. Aria pushed the door open and walked in.

"You wanted to talk?" Aria asked.

Ella nodded. She gestured for Aria to take a seat at one of the desks. Aria walked over to one in front Ella's desk and slid onto the top of it, making sure her dress stayed down over her legs as she did. She crossed one thigh over the other and settled her schoolbag in the chair of the desk.

"What's up?"

"I'm concerned about some of the rumours I'm hearing going around the school these last few days. A lot of girls are saying some disturbing things about Ezra."

Aria rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You mean the stories that he came onto them and tried to get in their pants? Or how they're all suddenly breaking up with their boyfriends because they're so sure that a teacher wants them?"

Ella shook her head at Aria disapprovingly. "There's no need for the sass, Aria. Your father and I hoped that with time, you would come to realize-"

"What? Mom? Realize what? That Ezra's not what I **know** he is? That he's not a good man who, like me, got caught in a very complicated situation? That he doesn't love me? That he's just in it to hurt me? Because you're wrong, mom. He's not in it to hurt me. If you and dad would just-"

"There is **nothing** your father and I need to hear from Ezra, or you about your relationship. It truly is unfortunate that you don't realize what's going on right in front of you Aria. I would rather not see you get hurt, but I don't know what else to do to make you realize that what you're doing isn't right. I don't want to see you suffer at the hands of something that should build a person up instead of tear them down."

Aria shook her head, dropping it into the palm of her left hand. "I guess we're just going to have to wait and see if I fail then, mom. You won't give me three seconds to say anything that defies your own beliefs, and whether or not I'm hurt by the way you and dad are treating me doesn't seem to matter."

"Your father and I are **not**trying to hurt you, Aria! We're trying to wake you up to what you're doing to your life! This relationship is not good or healthy for you!"

Aria pushed off the desk and grabbed her book bag. She walked over to the door and placed her hand on it, ready to walk out. After a moment, she looked down at the floor, and then up at her mother.

"I love him, mom. Not in the juvenile way that you and dad want to convince yourself that I do, but **really** love him. I don't want to love anyone else. Ezra gets me in ways that I never thought someone else would. And he loves me too. We never meant for things to happen the way they did. They just _did_. If you'd just give the truth a chance-"

Ella cut her off. "Its your truth, Aria. The truth **you** choose to see and believe. And for as open-minded and independent as your father and I raised you to be, I know we taught you better than to do something like this."

Aria took a deep breath as her chest started to cave with an unrelenting ache. She gulped hard. "Wasn't it you who always told me you can't always choose who you love, mom?"

Ella just shook her head. Aria opened her mouth to say something more, but all that came out was the soft sound of a whimper as tears ran over her eyelids. She closed her mouth and turned the knob to the door, pushing it open.

Aria walked out and closed the door, walking down the hall until she reached the end of it. She walked around the corner and then leaned against the wall, struggling to take in deep breaths and keep some sense of calmness as her mother's disapproval washed over her. It seemed that every time she turned around, she was constantly being slapped in the face by this over and over again, but she still couldn't find a way to take it with a grain of salt.

"Aria?"

She looked up. Hanna was walking out of the girls bathroom about ten feet away. She dashed down the hall as Aria slid down the wall, shaking her head. Her emotions were running far too high to keep them bottled up.

Hanna dropped to her knees next to Aria. She wrapped her arms around her and rubbed her back, whispering soothing words.

"Why do my parents hate me so much all of a sudden?" Aria asked. "And why can't I just face the fact that they don't love me anymore? Why is it so hard to accept that?"

Hanna shook her head as she brushed Aria's hair out of her face and wiped away the tears on her face, even though more continued to fall. "I don't know, sweetie. Maybe in time-"

Aria shook her head. "It's already been two weeks, Han. My parent's opinions haven't changed even a little. My mother is so sure that Ezra is just trying to pull one over on me and just use me. My dad refuses to discuss anything with Ezra that doesn't have to do with work, and when I see him at Hollis, he looks the other way."

"What about Mike?" Hanna asked.

Aria shrugged, continuing to shake her head as more tears fell down her face. "I don't know. Lately, I'm just waiting for him to turn around tell me that he's realized mom and dad must be right. Why wouldn't he? He spends all his time with them. He doesn't know Ezra the way I do, and even though he said he'd give us a shot, I can tell the idea still weirds him out. At this point, I don't think even a tragic accident would wake my parents up."

"Don't talk like that," Hanna insisted. "I don't want to hear about anything happening to you _or_ the Fitz." She wiped more tears off of Aria's face. "Now lets get you cleaned up and then let's get some food. I need you to help me figure out the US History homework."

She pushed up to her feet and then extended her hands to Aria. Aria took them gratefully and stood up as well. They walked back to the bathroom and then Aria leaned up against the sink with her back to the mirrors as Hanna wetted a few paper towels. She wiped away the mascara that had stuck to Aria's cheeks and then helped her to quickly reapply the makeup that had been washed away by water and tears.

They walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, and Aria was texting on her phone as they headed toward the commons.

Just inside the large room, Spencer was leaned up against a wall. "I've been waiting for you two! Emily had to go talk with the swim coach!"

"Sorry," Aria muttered. "My mom-"

"Is a bitch," Hanna finished for her.

Aria looked up at her briefly. "Not what I was going to say." She looked back down at her phone.

"_Shitty day. Can you come by Retta's  
>After school?"<br>-Aria_

She closed her phone and held it tightly in her hands as they each grabbed a six-inch sub from one of the vendors and then took seats at an empty table. Aria explained the conversation that had taken place with her mother to both Hanna and Spencer, and then explained to Spencer why she and Hanna had been late. Afterwards, Aria helped Hanna with the US History homework. Emily joined them in the last ten minutes of the lunch hour, having brought her own lunch with her.

They were getting ready to head off towards their next classes when Aria's phone went off, still sitting on the table. She picked it up.

"_Maybe a tragic accident is just what you need."  
>-A<em>

Aria gulped down a hard swallow and closed the message. She didn't need to worry her friends with yet another A threat. A threats were pretty much a daily right of passage, weren't they?

Her phone went off again, and she prayed that it wasn't another message, as Spencer asked what she had just received. She opened the message.

"_Sure. Three fifteen?  
>Got a class ending at 2:30. Next one is at 5."<br>-Ezra_

"It's just Ezra," Aria lied. "He's meeting me at work later." She tucked her phone into her bag. After a moment she looked back up at Spencer. "I think he has a late night tonight, and I should be back home by eight. Do you want to meet me for dinner at the apartment?"

"Sure," Spencer agreed. "Which ethnicity?"

Aria shrugged. The bell tolled. "Whichever you're craving." She began to speed walk, moving faster than the other girls. "I gotta get to class. I'll see you later."


	10. You'll Be Mine, Forever And Almost Alway

**A/N: Totally unedited. Sorry for** **typos. **The song at the end is Love Is Not A Fight by Warren Barfield.

_Chapter 10_

_You're Mine, Forever And Almost Always_

Aria pulled on her apron and walked over behind the register, keying in her information so that she'd be able to take people's orders. Loretta stepped past her as she settled her own apron on a hook.

"You'll be alright alone for the next few hours?" Loretta asked.

Aria nodded. "Don't worry about it. Go run your errands."

Loretta smiled at her. "You're a doll, Aria. Thanks so much for doing this."

Aria shrugged. "You need the time, and I need the money."

Loretta nodded, though she had a smile on her face as she grabbed her bag from behind the counter and then walked around the counter and headed for the door. She walked out a few moments later.

Aria watched as Loretta walked to her car and got in. She left shortly after turning her car on.

Aria settled on the barstool just behind the cash register and grabbed her Pride and Prejudice from her school bag and opened it up. She had already finished the book. She'd actually read it more than once, but every time she read it, she seemed to find different things that she had missed in the previous times that she'd read it.

She had a few page dog-eared with different lines highlighted. There were some with notes scribbled in the sides of the pages, of different thoughts she'd had at different points.

"Can I get a coffee?"

Aria looked up, and couldn't help but smile. Ezra was standing there. For as crappy as her day had been at school, she couldn't not feel happy that he was standing there in front of her. For the few flaws she had discovered about him in the last seven months, being punctual wasn't one of them. He sat down on a bar stool nearest to the register.

Aria slipped off her seat and grabbed a coffee cup from under the counter. She walked over to the coffee percolator and filled the cup before walking back over to the bar and setting the cup down in front of him. She pushed the small tray with sugar and creamer towards him. Ezra thanked her as he pulled a half-and-half from the tray, and a packet of sugar. He poured both into his cup, and then Aria dropped spoon into it, leaning across the counter as she did.

Ezra tipped his head up and kissed her chastely before she placed a menu down in front of him. She sat back down on her stool in front of the register and crossed one leg over the other.

"So why was your day so 'shitty' as you phrased it?" He asked as he stirred his cup of coffee. He was also flipping through the menu she'd given him.

Aria shrugged, writing down a check for him. "My mom aired our family's laundry in English class, and then proceeded to argue with me over lunch. Hanna found me crying in the hallway afterwards."

Ezra frowned." I'm so sorry, Aria."

She rolled her shoulders, slouching slightly in her seat as she looked up at him. "Its just…I knew things were bad at school, without this. There was enough trouble without her trying to tell our troubles in class, or causing arguments between classes."

Ezra furrowed his brow, taking a drink from the cup of coffee she'd gotten him. "What do you mean, bad? I thought school was going okay for you?"

Aria gulped. She hadn't told him about the bullies at school, at all. Up to that point, every time he asked about a bruise or a scrape from being shoved or otherwise hurt, she lied and claimed she'd bumped into something. "Did you want to order anything?"

"I'll take some fries," Ezra replied. "What's bad about school?"

Aria wrote down the fry order on the check and then walked over to the window between the kitchen and the diner. She hung up the check on a clip. "Need an order of fries, Allen."

"Gotcha, Aria." A hand patted the sill of the window space, and a moment later, she head fries start sizzling in oil. She walked back over to the bar and sat back down.

"Aria, what's going on at school?" Ezra pressed.

"It's just people who don't understand," she insisted. "Girls saying things that aren't true, and guys buying into it all."

"What do you mean," Ezra asked her. "Be specific." He knew how she could beat around the bush when she didn't want to face something head-on.

Aria played with the zipper on one of her boots as she sat there. "It started with just a couple of girls, but now a bunch of them are saying that you tried to come onto them, and tried to instigate sexual things from them. A lot of them broke up with their boyfriends because they've actually got it in their heads that we'll break up and you'll want one of them."

"And that's made school harder?" Ezra asked.

Aria gave a small nod. "Well that, and…" She took a deep breath. "You know all the bruises and what not that I've been getting?"

Ezra nodded. His hands tightened around his coffee cup.

"I'm not bumping into things," Aria admitted. "All these girls are mad at me, I guess. They keep pushing me into things. Lockers, bubblers…Stuff like that."

Ezra's eyes widened in anger, but he didn't say anything. The air between them grew tense for several moments. It was cut a moment later by Allen.

"Order's up."

Aria stared at Ezra nervously for a long moment before she pushed up out of her seat and walked over to the window. She grabbed the tray of fries and then walked back over to Ezra and settled them on the bar. She placed her hands on the bar, leaning down towards him.

"I don't want to upset you or cause any trouble. I just… I don't know. I don't like lying to you about this. About anything. And after lunch, after the things my mom was saying… I needed to see you. She wants so badly for me to say that she and my dad are right, and this is all wrong, even though it's not."

Ezra took several deep breaths, and then finally looked up at her as he picked up a fry out of the basket. "Why hasn't the principal or any of the teachers done anything?"

Aria shrugged. "Because when the principal asked about the "rumours" going around school, I refused to tell him anything. And the bullying usually happens in the bathroom or the P.E. locker room and stuff like that. I guess maybe the teachers think I've brought this on myself, and if I won't tell them what's going on, then I don't deserve any help."

"That's bullshit," Ezra replied bluntly.

Aria nodded. "At least it's inspiring writing."

Ezra narrowed his eyes at her, confused. "Huh?"

Aria reached down into her school bag. The bruises from Jason grabbing her arm her the week before were now yellowed, but the fact that they were there at all boiled up an anger inside of Ezra that he wasn't quite sure how to quell. This was all happening because she was with him.

Aria pulled a notebook from her book bag and walked over to Ezra. She turned to the page where she had started writing the paper that her mother wanted.

"I wrote it at the end of Geometry, because I already had the homework done. It's due tomorrow and I'm already finished."

Ezra took the notebook from her and began to read while Aria sat back down again. She pulled her journal from her book bag and opened up to the last page she'd had open - the lyrics she had started the night before. She was editing them and adding and subtracting things, but it was still a little ways from being done. She hadn't even started considering a melody or chords, either.

She settled her journal on the counter a few minutes later when three different groups of people streamed into the diner. She grabbed a stack of menus and then walked around the counter and proceeded to hand them out to each of the groups; two groups of four, and one large group of six.

She walked back behind the counter and filled fourteen glasses of water and then settled them on a large tray and walked back over to the groups and handed them all out before she returned to the first group. "Can I get you anything to drink to start?"

Each of the teenagers in front of her proceeded to order different refreshments, and then she repeated the same process with the next two tables. She was grateful that they were kids from a different school than hers. She had enough trouble during the eight hours she had in class.

She returned back behind the counter and got all of their sodas before she walked back to each of the tables and, luckily, managed to pass out the drinks in the arrangement that they were ordered in. She then returned back behind the counter so that she could give the groups time to decide what they wanted to order, if anything.

"This is really good," Ezra told her as he flipped the notebook shut. "A-worthy, even. It's very well written."

Aria smiled and tucked the notebook back into her bag. "Thanks."

She could see Ezra eyeing her journal and she chuckled. "If you want to see that, you're going to just have to wait and see what happens when I play it at the expo."

Ezra snatched the journal before she could get it away, and flipped back a few pages. He furrowed his brow as he read the first few lines. He looked back up at her. "Why not play this?"

Aria pulled her journal back across the counter and looked at the lyrics

_It's here I hold you close  
><em>_When I finally close my eyes  
><em>_And it never ever fails,  
><em>_The sun comes up,  
><em>_The story dies…  
><em>_And I don't know why…_

Aria looked up at him, blushing as she did. "Because it's about you. About the first night we were…together."

"And you're ashamed of that?" Ezra surmised.

Aria shook her head, closing her journal. "No, it's just… I don't know. I guess I figured if I ever played it, that it would be alone, in a dark room with you. Not exactly something I planned for the entire world, or at least all of Rosewood High School and half of the community to hear. I know it sounds stupid and cheesy, but I poured a lot of my heart into those lyrics, that night before I saw you at Hollis. And for as much as my friends might know about us, I don't think they know _everything_."

Ezra nodded. "I understand."

Aria knelt down and placed her journal back in her bag before she walked around the counter again and proceeded to take the orders of the groups of people at the various tables. When she returned back to the bar, Ezra was gone, with a twenty dollar bill resting next to the empty basket that had held his fries, and a small note.

"_Keep the change ;)  
><em>_See you later. Love you."  
><em>_-"Z"_

Aria rolled her eyes as she took the money off the counter and then keyed in his purchases to the register. She took back the change and tucked into her pocket before she grabbed his empty basket and then walked over to the trash and dumped away the paper that had rested in the basket. She walked over to the kitchen door and pushed it open just enough to drop the basket into the dishes, and then walked back out to the diner.

The afternoon proceeded on with Hanna and Caleb stopping by to do a pick-up order. Aria didn't say much, but that had more to do with the restaurant being full of people than it did anything else. For as much as she was racing around to take one group's order after another, her tips certainly built up.

Loretta returned just after six, and Aria's tips were headed upwards towards three hundred dollars. She was wiping down a table that eight people had just shared for dinner when Loretta walked in.

"Thanks so much, Aria! It wasn't too much on your own, was it?" She asked.

Aria shook her head, placing the different trays of condiments and what not back on the table. "Not at all. It got a little crazy from four-thirty to five-thirty, but Allen and I managed. Couldn't have been bad, anyway. I made a killing in tips."

Loretta chuckled. "I'm sure that has more to do with your personality. You're the only person I know who's world could be crashing, and you'd still be smiling to please the people in front of you."

Aria smiled at the compliment. "Thanks, Retta."

Retta nodded. "Not a problem doll. I'm just amazed you can manage all of this and keep good grades."

Aria shrugged as she walked around the counter and started wiping down the bar. She picked up another tip someone had left for her and stuffed it into her pocket. "It helps to have teachers for parents and a genius for a best friend," she laughed.

Loretta chuckled as she logged into the register. Aria hadn't told her about her parents kicking her out quite yet. She hadn't even told Loretta about Ezra.

"Speaking of your parents," Loretta said. "I haven't seen them in here in a while. Don't they want to see their girl in action?"

Aria shrugged, stopping in front of a man who had just taken a seat in front of her. He was a gray-haired man who looked like a trucker. "Coffee?" She asked. He nodded.

She proceeded to get a cup and fill him one.

"They both have crazy hours now," Aria finally said. It wasn't a complete lie, either. "My mom's got a full-time job now at the high school, and my dad just started a five week course with the guy who used to teach my English class before my dad got him the job at Hollis."

Loretta looked over at Aria. "Ezra Fitz?"

Aria whipped her head around as she settled the cup of coffee on the counter and pushed a tray of sugar and half-and-half towards him. "You know Ezra?"

Loretta shrugged. "I know _of_ him. My little brother went to Hollis with him. They're friends on that Hollis Link College…Whatever."

Aria laughed. "Hollis College Link. Yeah, I've got one from my extension class."

Loretta nodded as she grabbed an order from the kitchen window and placed it down in front of a woman that had ordered just before she had returned. The woman and the trucker man were the only two people in the diner.

"Anyway, I guess they had a few classes together, and when he went back for his doctorate this year, he was assigned to Ezra's composition class."

Aria placed a menu in front of the trucker and then walked over to the register and made sure everything she'd brought in with her was in her bag. She proceeded to finish out the rest of her shift with the two customers she had, and managed to earn seven more dollars before she punched her time card and headed out of the building.

The sun was starting to set as she made her way towards Hollis. She had an order of fries resting in the cup holder behind her gearshift, and she munched absentmindedly on them as she drove.

She arrived at Hollis a few minutes later and parked in an open space she managed to find right next to Ezra's car. The parking lot was mostly empty; students had already left for the day, or hadn't started trickling in yet for their night classes.

She got out of her car once she had shut it off and grabbed her food and her bag out of the passenger seat and headed towards the arts department. She was able to work on her stool in class now that all she had to do was sanding.

Once she was inside the building, she stopped by Ezra's office and left a note on his desk, telling him where she'd be before she headed down to the room where her art class was. The room was empty, but the lights had been left on for her.

She dropped her things on a table and then grabbed her things out of her small cubby and walked over to a table. She only had the top of the stool left to sand.

She went to work pushing the piece of sandpaper across the grain. She'd already created an inch and a half angle on the side of the top of the stool, where she intended to inscribe the quote Ezra had said to her during his last day at the high school, and what he had said to her before leaving her parents house the night Ella insisted they were over.

When she was finished sanding, she leaned back on her seat and gently ran her fingers over the wood. She wanted to be absolutely sure that every part of it was perfectly smooth, and that she wouldn't have to worry about splintering when she painted over it. She was set to do that on Friday with the rest of the class.

A knock came at the door and she looked up. Ezra was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed.

"How was work?"

Aria laughed as she ran her fingers over the top of the stool seat again. "Lucrative. I made three hundred bucks. Mostly from large groups giving me like ten dollar tips."

"There's the dinner fund for the month," Ezra joked. He walked into the room and picked up one of the stool legs. "Seems well sanded to me."

Aria nodded. "I just want to be sure."

Ezra looked down at his watch. "You sticking around? I've got a class starting in five minutes."

Aria shook her head. She gave resolved that there wasn't any more sanding she could do to further satisfy herself. "Spencer is getting dinner for us." She looked up at him. "How late are you going to be?"

Ezra shrugged and shook his head. "Probably ten or eleven. Don't wait up for me if you're tired."

_-  
>The seconds and the minutes, the minutes and the hours<br>__The future is his and the past is ours  
>- <em>

Aria settled the last of the dishes into the mostly full cabinets and closed them. Spencer was running late, and since she already had her homework done, she had taken the extra time to put away the dishes laying out on the counter, and hang up some of the clothes that were still in boxes. She'd brought more boxes over from the old apartment, which were mostly full of books.

She walked into the sitting room and opened up one of the boxes. On top of it rested the copy of To Kill A Mockingbird that Aria had bought for Ezra on behalf of their class for his last day at the high school.

She turned open the cover.

_Thanks for all you've taught us.  
><em>_-Aria_

She remembered writing that there, right before she had wrapped it the night before. She had been so unsure of what to put, or if she should write anything at all.

Aria brushed her fingers over the dented page where she had written the words. She had been so sure after she left his apartment that night that everything between them was really over. She had placed so much faith in the wrong things, expecting for him to be just like her father because of the information he'd kept from her about Jackie.

In the time that had passed though, she'd come to understand why he had kept that from her. Why did it matter if Jackie was working at Hollis if Ezra didn't want to be with her? It had been Aria's own jealous fear that had nearly ended their relationship.

A knock at the door brought her out of her memories. She placed the book back on top of the box and walked over to the door and opened it. Spencer held a bag up. "Thai food okay?"

Aria nodded. She opened the door further and stepped aside, letting Spencer in.

Spencer looked around the room as she settled the bag on the small dining table. "Wow. This is nice."

"Thanks," Aria said as she crossed her arms comfortably. "I feel kind of bad that I didn't really do anything to help get everything settled. Ezra and Hardy did most of it yesterday. C'mere. I gotta show you this."

She walked over to the spare bedroom and opened the door. Spencer walked over by her and flipped the light on.

"Whoa. Fitz made this up for you?"

Aria nodded, leaning against the door. She looked back over at Spencer. "Am I expecting too much from him, Spence? Am I being unfair?"

Spencer furrowed her brow. "No! Why would you think something like that?"

Aria pushed away from the door and walked back over to the table. She opened the bag of food and started pulling it out.

"I don't know," she sighed heavily. "I told him about what's been going on at school, and I hate seeing how it upsets him. And part of me wonders if this whole spare bedroom thing was done because he wants space."

Spencer crossed her arms and eyed Aria suspiciously as she came up to stand next to her. "Call me crazy, but wasn't it your bright idea to pick a two bedroom apartment?"

Aria nodded, pursing her lips as she opened a tray of curry. "Yeah, but that had more to do with the fact that I didn't want to ruffle anymore feathers. I mean, he always tells me that he doesn't view me as a child, but in some ways, I think he does."

Spencer sat down in the chair where Ezra generally sat, grabbing a set of plastic utensils that had come with dinner. "Well arguably, you technically still are. You can fight the system as much as you want and act as old as you want to, but at the end of the day, there are going to be things you do that are age-defining."

"This coming from the girl who had an internship with the mayor last summer," Aria interjected.

Spencer raised her eyebrows at Aria. "And then I went home, curled up with a pint of Ben and Jerry's, and netflixed One Tree Hill. The early seasons. Now tell me that you don't curl up in bed some nights and watch Degrassi online."

Aria shrugged, sitting down in her seat. "Not lately."

Spencer laughed as she pulled open one of the containers and stabbed her fork into curry. "You mean not since you left your parents and became too busy to do anything beside go to school, work, and sleep?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "Okay, okay. So I'm a child."

Spencer shook her head. "I'm not saying that's a problem. Why does it have to matter how old you are anyway? It seems pretty clear that Ezra accepts you for who you are and how old you are."

Aria bit her bottom lip as she pushed around the food in her tray. "I don't know. I guess my parents are just getting to me."

They ate in silence for a few minutes, but Spencer could tell that something more was getting to Aria. She dropped her fork and huffed.

"Don't lie. What's really eating at you?"

Aria dropped her fork too. Whatever was eating at her obviously needed to be said.

"Its just, a few months ago, I was so close to ending things with Ezra. Because of Jackie."

"You were scared," Spencer contended. "You didn't really know what she meant to him. You could've ended up being right, and he could've been screwing you over right in front of your face."

Aria frowned. Even though Spencer was right, it didn't do much to make her feel better.

"It's just that he's done all of these things for me… I mean don't you ever feel guilty for the things you said and thought about Toby before we found out that he wasn't the one who killed Ali?"

Spencer nodded slowly. "Of course I do. But I can't change what happened in the past. All I can do is try and make up for it. Aria, wasting all your time feeling guilty over things you can't change isn't going to get you anywhere. You know that Ezra loves you, right? More than anything else?"

"Yeah." Aria's voice was soft, like she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Then nothing else matters. If he wants you here, and you're both happy that should be enough. Your parents will wake up and realize what they're missing out on one day."

Aria wanted to refute what Spencer was saying, but she was right. And as much as she wanted to, she couldn't keep standing around waiting for her parents to love her event though she loved Ezra. They'd just have to come around in their own time. Waiting was just hurting her more.

They finished most of their dinner in silence, and not long after, Spencer rushed out the door, swearing that she had homework that she had to get finished. Aria could only laugh as she pushed the door shut. Toby had certainly kept Spencer on her toes lately.

She knelt in front a small box that held prized possessions that belonged to both she and Ezra. Among them was the necklace he had gotten her for Valentines day, and a watch that his father had given him on his graduation day from high school. It also held the ring he had given to Jackie when he had proposed to her. Aria had only ever seen it once, the night that she was waiting for him to return home from work. The small velvet box it had been housed in was out on the desk; she figured he'd probably been looking at it reminiscing.

_Aria sat down on the couch next to Ezra and stretched her legs out on the coffee table. He extended his arm around her and kissed her forehead. _

"_Can I ask you something?"_

_He popped back up and looked her in the eyes. "Of course."_

_Aria nodded. She looked down at her hands, and then reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Its just that…when I was here a few days ago, that night I was waiting for you… There was a box on the desk. With-with a ri-ri-"_

_"With a ring?" Ezra finished quickly. He eyed her curiously. Aria nodded._

_One corner of his mouth tugged up in a comforting smile. "Yeah, it was the ring I gave Jackie. It was something that I picked up in a pawn shop before we left for Italy that summer. She gave it back to me when we broke up."_

_"So, why was it out?"_

_Ezra shrugged. He wrapped his hand gently around Aria's shoulder. "It wasn't me thinking of 'better days'. Honestly, when you showed up here and asked me if I still loved her when we met, I knew I couldn't answer you without hurting you. Jackie and I had only been over for a few months. And yes, you were a big part of the reason I finally let go of that relationship. But I never really divested of the physical possessions I had from that relationship. I mean there are some things I'd keep, like things I wrote that meant a lot, or the photo of she and Hardy and I in Rome, but it has nothing to do with me wanting to be with her. They're just good memories."_

_"But the ring," Aria asked._

_Ezra nodded again. "I had the ring out because I was trying to decide what to do with it. I don't really want it anymore, and it's not quite something I'd ever look to give to…well, you. And honestly, I don't want anything here that is going to upset you. I love you a lot, Aria. More than I thought I would ever love anyone. The ring is just…like Jackie. It's the past." _

She held the ring between her ring and index finger and then slipped down over her middle finger. It just barely fit. It was too loose on all her other fingers, including her thumb.

She took the ring off and placed it back in the box, and set the box aside. Inside the box were also various stacks of journals, both of her own and Ezra's. She had found herself reading through some of his when he let her, but she'd never seen any from the time he had spent with Jackie.

She pulled one out and turned it open. She turned open to a random page.

_**July 11th, 2009**_

_**Italy is amazing.**_

_**Here with a great friend,  
><strong>__**And a great girl.**_

_**I asked Jackie to marry me. She said yes. I've known this girl since I was sixteen, and it just feels…right.**_

Aria huffed and closed the notebook. She knew that if Ezra saw her reading that, he'd insist that it was a different time in his life. Which left her to wonder…

She placed the journal back in the box and dug through them, reading the dates taped down in paper on the spines, until she found the one he had used from August to December of the previous year. She opened it up and turned to the right page.

_**September 6th, 2010**_

_**B-26**_

_**Met this amazing girl today, and there is just something so… CAPTIVATING about her. She strikes something in me that I can't even begin to put into words. This isn't something I've felt in a long time…maybe ever. **_

_**I only just met her six hours ago, and already, I can't wait to see her again. We're texting about meeting up tomorrow. Damn. **_

_**Aria, you have no idea what you've done to me in just a matter of a few hours…**_

Aria chuckled softly as she read the last line. It was a messy scrawl, but it touched her heart none the same.

She turned the page and continued to read. There was another entry from a few days later, after they had kissed in his car.

_**Within**_

_**Your lips on my lips  
><strong>__**Well that feels just right  
><strong>__**Put your hand in mine  
><strong>__**With the other piece of the puzzle  
><strong>__**Sliding into place**_

___**Sun-kissed skin  
><strong>__**This girl is making my head spin  
><strong>__**Ivory hair  
><strong>__**Says she's got a spare…moment**_

_**Capture this  
><strong>__**Like a butterfly in the hands  
><strong>__**And don't let go  
><strong>__**But don't hold too tight**_

_**Sunlight, sunshine  
><strong>__**Turn it on a dime  
><strong>__**Even in the dark  
><strong>__**Lights flashing  
><strong>__**Someone lit the spark**_

_**And watch it burn up  
><strong>__**Straight into a firework  
><strong>__**Shooting across the sky  
><strong>__**This moment is alive**_

Aria's heart swelled as she read, and eventually she closed the journal and tucked it back into the box. She could help put more stuff away tomorrow. For now, all she wanted to do was play something.

She got up and crossed the room. The spare bedroom door was still open, and her guitar case was leaning up against the wall. She laid it down against the floor and knelt down to remove it.

Once it was out of the confines of its case, she grabbed a pick from one of the compartments in the case and then stood up and walked back into the sitting room.

She knew that she should really work on the song that she promised Spencer she would get done, but at the moment, there was only song in her mind. She sat down on the floor and crossed her legs and began to strum. A few moments later she began to sing.

"_Love is not a place  
><em>_To come and go as we please  
><em>_It's a house we enter in  
><em>_Then commit to leave…"_

Unbeknownst to Aria, as she had her eyes closed, the door opened across the room, and Ezra stood there, watching an listening as she sang and played. He leaned up against the wall, quietly pushing the door shut behind him so they didn't disturb the neighbors.

"_So lock the door behind you  
><em>_Throw away the key  
><em>_Work it out together  
><em>_Let it bring us to our knees…_

_Love is a shelter  
><em>_In a raging storm  
><em>_Love is peace  
><em>_In the middle of a war  
><em>_And if we try to leave  
><em>_May god send angels to guard the door  
><em>_No, love is not a fight,  
><em>_But it's something worth fighting for…."_

Ezra walked into the room and settled his bag quietly against the wall. He slipped his shoes off, careful still not to disturb her from her playing.

"_Some love is a word  
><em>_That they can fall into  
><em>_But when they're falling out  
><em>_Keeping that word is hard to do_

_Love is a shelter  
><em>_In a raging storm  
><em>_Love is peace  
><em>_In the middle of a war  
><em>_And if we try to leave  
><em>_May god send angels to guard the door  
><em>_No, love is not a fight  
><em>_But it's something worth fighting for…_

_Love will come save us  
><em>_If we'll only call  
><em>_He will ask nothing from us  
><em>_But we demand we give our all_

_Love is a shelter  
><em>_In a raging storm  
><em>_Love is peace  
><em>_In the middle of a war  
><em>_And if we try leave  
><em>_May God send angels to guard the door  
><em>_No, love is not a fight  
><em>_But it's something worth fighting for…_

_Cause I will fight for you  
><em>_Will you fight for me  
><em>_It's worth fighting for…"_

Still not aware that Ezra was in the apartment, Aria kept her eyes closed as she finished the song. Something about it had always struck a nerve in her when it came to her and Ezra. They were constantly having to combat one hurdle or another, but she never once felt that it wasn't worth fighting for.

"I'll always fight for you."

She jumped at how close his voice was. He was sat on the floor in front of her.

"Hi," she murmured. "I didn't hear you come in."

Ezra nodded. "I didn't want to interrupt you. It's a beautiful song."

Aria nodded. She strummed absentmindedly on her song. "It was just…in my head. Tired?"

Ezra nodded again. "You?"

Aria nodded again as well. "Bed?"

"Sure." He stood and extended his hand to her. Aria moved her guitar off her lap and followed him into the bedroom, holding her guitar by it's neck as she did. Once they were in the room, she leaned the instrument up against the wall and placed the pick on the desk. She pushed the bedroom door and then proceeded to reach behind herself and pulled down the zipper on her dress.

Ezra walked over to her and cupped her face in one hand as his other hand moved behind her back and gently pulled the dress down her arm. Aria freed her arm and brought her hand up to his cheek, kissing him back. Ezra slipped his tongue past her lips and brushed it up against hers. Aria groaned softly, and parted from him.

"I love you, Aria. Every day, every night. Every minute, and every second."

She smiled, blushing at the comment. "You're more than anything I ever thought to deserve."

Ezra chuckled softly and shook his head as his eyes drifted shut for a moment. "You are more than anything I even imagined **possible**. Every day that I wake up and realize you're in my life is another day that I can't help but thank God that you were in that bar that day. There's nothing I wouldn't give…nothing I wouldn't do, for you."

"Then let me have you right now," she said as she pushed up onto the tips of her toes. Their lips brushed together and Ezra slipped his tongue into her mouth, grabbing both sides of her face to resume their kiss. Aria pulled his dress shirt from the confines of his pants and ran her fingers under it, pressing their bodies flush up against each other.

It didn't get any closer to perfection than this.


	11. That's When You'll Remember Me

**A/N:** Not edited at all, again… Sorry. I'll be gone for a week, and I wanted to give you all something to hold you over. Oh, and um…Katie wanted it really bad. Although, I'm not sure how Ezra tossing his cookies is going to cure a hangover ;). You'll see what I mean.

Read on!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, I make no profit, yada yada. The lyrics at the beginning are Make You Believe. Lucy sings it in her Cinderella Story movie. Ezra's ringtone is Cady Groves' We're The Shit. (The EP just came out. You should totally go buy it, because This Little Girl is the shit. /ending shamless promotion)

_Chapter 11_

_That's When You'll Remember Me_

Aria kicked her heels as she sat on the stage in the commons. Spencer had gotten her out of her last two classes, mostly because she needed help setting up for the following week's expo. Hanna and Emily were also helping out, but Spencer had also insisted that everyone set to play in the expo show up and do a run-through.

"Higher," Spencer called from the floor. She was watching as Hanna and Emily hung a banner with the dates for the expo. It was set to go for every night of the following week, which would ultimately end with a battle of the bands. Aria wasn't expecting to win. She was only performing with her guitar, and her song was only half-finished.

Spencer walked over to her and sat down as Emily and Hanna secured the banner. Aria was strumming notes on her guitar, but no closer to figuring out a melody to her song.

"Do you have _anything_ done?" She asked.

Aria looked up at her and then began to strum the loose idea she'd come up with.

"_Whatever you see is what you get  
><em>_If words paint a picture,  
><em>_Then bet you, I can get you, yeah_

_I'll make you believe in me  
><em>_I can be what you want me to be  
><em>_Tonight is the night  
><em>_Where I'll make you see, that I can be anything, anything  
><em>_That you want from me…__I've got nothing to lose_

_I've been exposed  
><em>_I'm paying my dues  
><em>_Playing the role_

_If you wanna  
><em>_Confess all your sins  
><em>_You know you've got 'em_

_The room's in a spin,  
><em>_The fever's pitched,  
><em>_I swear there's no doubt,  
><em>_I'm legit, I'm no counterfeit_

_I'll make you believe in me  
><em>_I can be what you want me to be  
><em>_Tonight is the night  
><em>_Where I'll make you see, that I can be anything, anything  
><em>_That you want from me…"_

Aria slipped her guitar pick between her fingers and moved her hand up to brush her bangs out of her face. "It sucks. There's just something… I don't know. It's missing something."

Spencer smiled comfortingly. "You'll get it. At least there's more to it than there was yesterday." Aria laughed. "Yeah, because I didn't pay any attention in English class this morning. What are we supposed to have for homework?"

Spencer looked down in her notebook sitting in her lap. "Studying for the big test on Friday. I've got a study guide I put together if you want one."

Aria shrugged. "Can you put it on an audio file? I have to work from four to seven. Then I have to finish my homework for the week and…" Her voice trailed off and she yawned. "God, Spence, I'm tired. I finish with school, run to work, and then go home and do homework. I need a freakin' nap."

"When do you have a day off?" Spencer asked.

Aria placed her guitar in its case next to her. "Saturday. I've got a six hour shift on Sunday."

"Can't you go over to Fitz's office and take a half-hour nap before work today? It's Wednesday. Short day."

Aria shrugged. "I guess. I really do love that everything feels right the way it is, and that I feel like I'm fighting for the right things but its exhausting. I feel like I did before we left to Iceland last year. How everything felt like I was constantly trying to come up with a different reason to lie to my mom about why I was upset with my dad or not tell her what I'd seen. It was emotionally exhausting. Now I'm just plain tired. Tire of arguing with my parents, tired of feeling like I have to keep everyone pleased. Just… tired…"

Spencer frowned. "So what're you going to do about it?"

"The only thing I **can** do," Aria replied. "I'm not going to give the arguments with my parents the time of day anymore. I keep saying that the last few days, but it's time to stick to it. You were right last night. Ezra is here for me, and even for all the things that life keeps throwing at us, I don't want to hurt him anymore."

She hopped down off the stage and closed her guitar case snapping the clips of it down. She looked back up at Spencer. "You know, I used to think that as much as I loved him, and he loved me, that we were always destined to fall. even though, when we were together, everything was different. I swear, Spencer, from the day I met him, there was always something different. Everything felt complete, and I know it sounds crazy because we're sixteen, but I don't think there's anyone else out there that's more right than him. If it were anyone else, I think I'd be stuck completely on my own right now. That he'd be gone, and I'd be stuck figuring out how to fix all of this."

Spencer smiled. "You have to know that. I mean everyone knows that, that whole speech he gave on his last day here is because it was you he was leaving. Not us."

Aria nodded. She had known that as well, even though she had never voiced it out loud. She leaned against the stage, folding her hands. She'd done something daring and worn one of Ezra's dress shirts over a ribbed tank top. She was feeling eccentric; the hunter green dress shirt sleeves were rolled up to her elbows and buttoned, while her crimson tank top was tucked into her jean mini skirt. She'd certainly turned a few heads when people saw her wearing a man's shirt, but she'd come to the conclusion that if she was going to continue with what she was doing with Ezra, then she was going to completely embrace it.

"I had his idea in my head of what a perfect relationship was before my dad cheated on my mom, and when he did that, everything I believed was shattered. I never thought that I'd find someone who actually felt the way I do."

"Are you done telling a love story," Hanna joked as she walked up next to Aria. She took a drink from the water bottle in her hand.

"So we can talk about Caleb," Aria teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Hanna stuck her tongue out at Aria.

"So that we can get out of here. The bell is going to ring in five minutes." Spencer nodded. She placed a hand on Aria's shoulder. "Go sleep! Oh, and um, can you put in an order for me when you get to work? Melissa's on this whole hamburger kick lately, and I promised I'd get her something on my way home tonight." Aria nodded, picking up her book bag off the stage. "Just text it to me."

A few minutes later, as Aria was shuffling things around in her bag, the bell chimed overhead. She didn't watch around her as she walked out of the commons. She simply walked in the direction of her car. She already had all the books she needed to take home with her.

Because of that, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Mike came up in stride next to her.

"Hey, sis!"

Aria threw her hand to her chest. "Mike! You scared me half to death." He smiled at her, and then it faltered as he realized she was serious. "Sorry," he muttered.

She shrugged, taking a deep breath. Don't worry about it. What's up?"

"We still on for dinner tonight?"

Aria gulped. She'd completely spaced on her invitation to Mike for dinner. She had hoped to call it an early night, but she couldn't put off her brother, either. They hadn't exactly spent any time together since reconciling.

"Um, yeah. I'll get something from work before I leave. I'm done at 7 so say…seven fifteen?"

Mike nodded. "I'll bring the alcohol." Aria gaped at him. Mike laughed.

"Kidding! Have fun at work. Tell the Fitz I say hi."

Aria was surprised at his comment about Ezra, and she stared at him as he charged back down the hall in the direction of his friends. She knew he'd tried to reconnect with some of them since going back to school.

When she had her bearings, she headed out of school, and walked in the direction of her car. Her phone in her left hand, read that it was 2:04 PM. With any luck, she could get over to Hollis by twenty after, and take an hour nap before she had to get to work.

She weaved in and out the parked cars in the student parking lot once she was outside, careful to watch for the few students who were already out of school and in their cars. Once she made it over to her own car, she got inside and started it. She checked her mirrors and then made her way out of the parking lot, and headed towards Hollis.

The drive was quiet, as it often was. The radio was turned off, and phone rested in dash below the radio. It buzzed as she pulled up to a red light. She leaned down and picked it up.

"_Loved the outfit today, btw..  
><em>_Did I forget to mention that?  
><em>_Looks familiar :P"  
><em>_-Spencer_

Aria laughed and closed the message. She placed her phone back in the dash. The light quickly turned green and laid her foot on the gas again.

She finished her drive to Hollis and pulled into a space in the student parking lot. She didn't bother to grab anything other than her keys and her phone as she got out of the car. She walked into the English department, passing by her father's room as she did. The room was empty; she already knew. He didn't have classes on Wednesday.

Two turns and a hallway later, she was standing in Ezra's office. The only light on was over his desk, but he was there. She sighed heavy breath and then walked over to the couch and dropped her things on the coffee table. She laid down on the couch and rubbed her eyes wearily before draping her arm over them.

She dozed for a while, grateful for the silence that seemed to have fallen over the room. Even with the door cracked open, she didn't hear much other than the occasional passing student or faculty member.

She must have fallen asleep though, because before she knew it, she felt a hand on her shoulder, coaxing her awake.

"_Wake up, baby." _

Aria groaned, turning into the couch and pulling one leg up closer to her torso as she laid there. After a moment, it phased her that she _had_ in fact fallen asleep and her eyes shot open. Fuck, she was going to be so late.

She whipped around quickly on the couch and shot up. "What time is it? Am I late? I've got to work and I'm supposed to have dinner with Mike and-""Shhh," Ezra said, resting a finger over her lips. "It's three-o'clock. I just got back from class. What're you doing here?" Aria shrugged wearily, letting her shoulders slumped as she realized she didn't have to be to work for another hour. "Shorter drive from here to Retta's," she murmured wearily. "I'm so tired." Ezra leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Four o'clock right?" Aria nodded. He stood and walked over to his desk. Aria watched as he walked over and grabbed his jacket off the back of his seat. He walked back over to her and draped it around her. "I'll wake you up in forty minutes."

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

Ezra nodded. "Go back to sleep. I'll just keep the desk lamp on."

Aria laid back down on the couch and closed her eyes, turning back into the comforts of it with very little light in her line of view. She pulled Ezra's coat up around her shoulders and buried her head down so that she could breathe in his scent off of it. A few moments later, she was asleep again.

As promised, at twenty to four, Ezra woke her up. He was headed off to teach yet another class, but he placed a chaste kiss on her cheek as he dashed out of the room. Aria, on the other hand, took her time getting up. She replaced Ezra's jacket on his chair and then headed out of the building.

"Off to work again," she muttered to herself as she walked towards her car. "Oh joy."

_-  
>And why am I talking<br>__When I have nothing to say  
>- <em>

Aria pushed the door open to her and Ezra's apartment, juggling her things from school, the one of the last boxes from the other apartment, and a bag of food from Retta's. Mike was holding two other boxes as he walked in behind her.

"You can just put them down…anywhere," she said after a moment. There were boxes everywhere as it was.

Mike set them down near the bedroom door and looked around. "Wow. This is cool. You in your own place." Aria chuckled as she settled the box in her arms on one of the chairs at the table. She took the bag of food out of the box and set it on top of the table and then moved the box to the floor, and finally let her bag drop to the floor as well.

"It's not just mine," she said softly as she opened the bag.

Mike walked across the room and stared at the few pictures that had been put out. There was Aria's picture that she took everywhere, the one of her and the other four girls, with Alison in the middle. There was also a photo of she, Spencer, and Emily from Mona's birthday party. It had been a photo someone had taken before their night had turned to hell.

The photo that sat in the middle of all of them was newest though. It was something that Spencer had taken while they were packing up the apartment. A photo of Aria sitting in Ezra's lap while they were eating dinner that night. Their heads were tipped towards each other.

Among the rest of the photos were plenty of Ezra, with friends and family.

"Fitz has a twin?" Mike asked as he looked over at Aria. She was coming out of the kitchen holding plates.

"No," she drawled for a moment. "Adriana is his little sister."

"Oh," Mike murmured. He walked over to her and started digging through the bag. "So what'd you bring for me?" "Chicken cordon bleu," Aria replied. "It's still your favourite, right?" Mike nodded. He passed a closed tray to her and Aria opened it up. She had opted for a stir-fry. She poured the food out onto her plate while Mike unwrapped his sandwich and then dumped his fries onto his plate as well.

The sat down a few moments later, and Aria began to pick at her food while Mike practically started to inhale his sandwich.

"So how are things at home?" She asked curiously.

Mike shrugged, setting his sandwich down. "Mom and dad don't say much about you, if that's what you mean. It's like the house is made of ice when your name comes up. And it doesn't often."

Aria just nodded. She was determined to not let her parents get to her. "What about you? Are you doing okay? Are they at least paying more attention?" "More than I'd like," Mike laughed. "Dad's always asking if I want to catch a game or something. And Mom is constantly asking if I need help with my homework. Sucks that you're not there to take some of the attention off of me, you know." Aria nodded again. "Well you can always come hang out with me…When I'm not working or at school, I mean."

Mike nodded. They proceeded through dinner with quiet conversation, and Aria told Mike about how her job was going with Retta's. As tired as she was, she admitted that she did actually enjoy her job, and liked being around the people there. By the time their meal came to an end, she felt like he honestly was starting to accept the situation their family had been put in.

After they were done eating, he helped her wash the dishes, and then they sat down for a quick game of _Life_ before Mike finally headed out. When he was gone, Aria fished out her school books from her bag. There was very little to be done for the rest of the week; just a little bit of math homework. Even so, she had been doing her best to get all of her homework done in advance. The school year was going to be over in just about a month, and if she was intending on continuing to work, she had to get her school work done quick enough that she wasn't dragging behind everyone else when it came time to study for finals. She didn't have the kind of time that everyone else did.

"Aria?"

She groaned as she lifted her head up from the table a few hours later. There was a cramp in her back, and drool on her hand. _Shit!_ Had she actually fallen asleep in the middle of doing school work? She'd only meant to lie her head down for a moment, because it had been throbbing.

Ezra walked over to her and settled his bag on the chair next to hers. He placed his hand gently between her shoulder blades. "Did you fall asleep here?" Aria rubbed her eyes wearily as he squatted down next to her. "I guess. I was just trying to get this work done for math. I didn't even study for the test for English…" Ezra brushed her hair out of her face. "You know that book backward and forward, I know it. I've seen you quote entire scenes." He pushed up to his feet and slipped his arms around her. "Let's go. I'm putting you to bed." "But my homework-" "Will still be there next Tuesday when it's actually due. What you need is a good night's sleep."

He swept her up out of her chair and carried her into the bedroom, where he settled her gently on the bed. Aria hoisted her hips up as he unbuttoned her skirt and then pulled it down her body. Afterwards, she slid her legs under the blankets and Ezra sat down next to her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I love you. Now sleep." Aria frowned at him, frustrated that he was making her rest. Even so, she knew she needed it. With any luck, she'd wake up feeling refreshed the next day.

Ezra leaned forward and kissed her on the lips and then reached over and shut off the lamp next to the bed and then got up and walked out of the room as Aria curled up in the blankets, pulling his pillow close to her.

Ezra chuckled, watching her for a brief moment before he pulled the door shut and walked out into the main room. He walked over to the table and closed Aria's books and then placed them back in her book bag.

He walked into the kitchen when he had placed her bag on the floor and opened the fridge. Ever since Aria and he had started living together, he hadn't had a drop of alcohol, but the day that he had just put behind him called for a beer before bed.

He pulled one from the door and popped the cap off of it before walking into the sitting room. There had been many odd looks from many different people. Ezra had known ever since the meeting with entire department that Byron wasn't pleased with him and wasn't keeping it a secret, but now things were happening outwardly. He'd had several students take on an off-putting demeanor towards him, and he wasn't quite sure how to respond to it.

He took a long gulp from his beer as he walked over to the sitting room and knelt in front of one of the boxes. It was the very same box that Aria had been picking through the night before, and To Kill A Mockingbird still rested on top of it.

His heart clenched as he stared at the book. He remembered reading that quote later that night after he had gotten home, and remembering just how close they had been to being over at that point. Aria didn't know it, but had also kept the note she'd left on his typewriter too. Just like he'd kept things from his relationship with Jackie, there were things he'd kept from his relationship with Aria. Things that were just too important to let go of.

He pushed the box aside and grabbed the one that Aria had brought over that day. She probably had no clue what was in it. It was the last one he had packed, and he'd done it Monday before he and Hardy had started moving things. It was his box of mementos from their relationship. Among them was the ticket stub from the movie they saw with her mother, a cup cozy from Starbucks, the first time they had shared coffee in his apartment, and the receipt from their first official Saturday date. Aria had rented _Strangers On A Train _and _Princess_, and they had proceeded to spend the entire day curled up on his couch together.

There was also a box that had once housed many tissues. He'd gotten a very bad flu right after Christmas, and had come back from spending the holidays with Adriana and his mom in New York, early. Aria had somehow managed to figure out a way to sneak away from her parents and Spencer had lied for her, and Aria spent his first 24 hours home, helping to take care of him. She watched the ball drop while he had slept with his head in her lap, desperately trying to keep down soup that she'd gotten him for dinner.

Of course, they both ended up missing the first three days back after winter break when she caught his flu, and neither of them had an easy time shaking it. He still remembered their first day back at Rosewood.

_Aria coughed as she walked down between the rows of desks. "You got a cough drop?" Her voice was still hoarse from spending the last four days in bed. _

_Ezra nodded. He tossed one to her from the top drawer of his desk. "Don't you have any?" He didn't sound much better, and they were both still plenty stuffed up. _

"_In my locker," was her only response. She was supposed to be in the lunch room eating with her friends, but neither of them were feeling very hungry. She popped the cough drop in her mouth and sucked on it for a few moments._

_Ezra picked up a tissue off his desk and coughed wetly into it. Aria could see him cringing as the harshness of the cough stung his throat. After a minute, he managed to stop and folded the tissue and then tossed it into the trash. He grabbed a cough drop for himself and popped it in his mouth before lathering his hands in sanitizer. _

"_Where the hell did you get this super-bug?" Aria whined. She sat down in one of the desks in the first row and rested her head on her arms. _

_Ezra coughed again and shook his head. "I don't know. Adriana and mom are both healthy." He walked over to her and placed a hand on her forehead. "You're hot, sweetie." "Gee thanks," she muttered. Her eyes were closed. _

_Ezra squatted down in front of the desk, crossing his arms over the front of it. "No. I mean you're feverish. Why don't you go ask your mom if you can go home. I'm sure she'd let you." _

"_I already missed three days," Aria whined, popping her head up. "And you-" _

_Ezra shook his head. "That's different. I'm a teacher. I need to be here. You need to go home and get healthy." "You've been sick longer than I have," Aria exclaimed. She coughed again and rested her head back down against the desk. "So nice and cool…" _

_Ezra squeezed her hand lightly in his. "Please, do me the favour of not torturing me by making me see you suffer any longer, and go home. You look ready to fall asleep." _

_Aria looked back up at him. She reached her hand out to feel his sweat-covered forehead. "Only if you go home too." _

"_Aria," Ezra countered. He gently pulled her hand down from his head. "Please." _

_Aria opened her mouth to reply, but she was both cut off by a voice that startled them both. _

"_Ezra, have you seen-…Aria, there you are!" _

_Aria looked up at her mother standing in the doorway. She waved wearily. _

"_She looked ready to drop," Ezra insisted quickly, forming a story out of what he could think of in that moment. "I figured she could rest while lunch went on. I was actually trying to convince her to come find you and-" "Go home," Ella finished. It sounded more like a statement. "I think you both should. Excuse the language, but you look like hell, Ezra." _

_He chuckled and then grimaced as his stomach churned. _

"_Mom-" Ella shook her head, walking over to Aria. She placed her hand on Aria's forehead and then on her cheek. "You are too sick to be here, Aria Rose. Take today, and if you're not better tomorrow, then take the rest of the week. There's a reason students are given ten days of absences." _

_Ella turned around to lay into Ezra to do the same thing, only to be shut down by the fact that he was heaving into the trashcan next to his desk. _

_Aria pushed up slowly from her desk, knowing if she didn't get out of there quick, she was going to be sick too. "Fine, I'll go. Just, can you get my homework?" Ella nodded. "Go home, take something for that fever, and get into bed." _

_Ezra stood up with shaking hands and gripped his desk. He looked from Aria to Ella. "Go," Ella insisted. "I don't have any afternoon classes. I'll cover yours. Just leave your lesson plan." _

_If even for a moment, he considered saying no, the option went away by the death glare Aria was shooting at him. He just nodded and muttered something about Ella bringing it by his place after school. _

_The three of them exited the room shortly there afterwards and Ezra and Ella walked towards the office as Aria walked towards her locker. Once she had her things, she headed towards the office as well. When she walked in, Ezra was in the process of signing out of the day, while Ella was chatting with the school nurse. _

"_Aria!" Ella waved her over. She walked past Ezra, purposely walking too close so that their hands brushed together as she passed by. Their fingers laced just for a moment; to anyone outside, it looked accidental, but they both knew it was on purpose. _

"_What's up?" She asked in a tired voice. _

"_We just want to get your temperature," the nurse replied. "Seems you and Mr. Fitz both have this same nasty bug. He's just south of a hundred and four. Lucky to be standing, that one is." _

_Aria leaned against her mother for physical support as she waited on the school nurse. She placed the thermometer inside Aria's ear, and then waited for it to beep. A few moments later, it did. _

"_Well, I'll be damned. One hundred and three point eight, just like Ezra." She turned the thermometer off and then settled it on her desk before filling out a sick pass and handing it to Aria. "Feel better, Aria." Aria nodded and walked out of the nurses office. And again, to anyone else's view, they would've assumed that Ezra leaning against the counter, taking his time to sign out was just because he was sick. But Aria knew it was because he was waiting for her. _

_She walked out of the office and he followed closely behind her, holding the door for her as they stepped out and headed towards the parking lot. _

"_Why did you come to work today," she scolded quietly as they walked. _

_Ezra looked down at her with a similar concerned attitude. "Why did __**you**__ come to school?" _

_Aria exhaled a deep breath, and then stopped for a moment, wrapping a hand across her waist. Ezra stopped a few steps away and looked back at her. "Aria?" _

_She stood there for a moment, taking several deep breaths. "I'm okay." _

"_You sure," he asked. _

_She nodded. "False alarm. And I came because I haven't seen you since the first. It's the fourth." _

"_Well there's your answer then," he replied softly. "I wanted to see you, too." _

He remembered how she had followed him home, and spent the remainder of the school day curled up with him on the couch. Both her parents were working, and when her father had called to ask if Aria needed him to come home, she said that she was just going to sleep, so there was no need. Only when he promised to stay at work did she hang up. She ended up leaving Ezra's apartment a half an hour before school let out so that she could get home before her brother did.

Inside that tissue box rested the empty bag that had held cough drops that they both had sucked on for a week. His discharge papers from the hospital the night before he went back to work were also there. He'd gotten too dehydrated to even stand, and Adriana had spent four hours with him in the ER.

There was also a stack of letters inside the box. They were letters Ezra had written her while he was in New York, and they were thick. He'd never given them to her, because they were letters of him questioning whether they were right, or whether they should be together.

He pulled the letters out and leaned back against the couch as he began to read.

_**September 19**__**th**__**, 10 AM**_

_**I've been here two days, and every day that I'm not there to see you is absolute and pure hell. I never meant for things to turn the way they have, but somehow the fact that I can't be with you just…I'm not sure. **_

_**It killed everything in me to walk away from you in that hallway back at Rosewood. I desperately wish to find something outside of it so that we can figure out a way to make this work. **_

_**I just don't want to hurt you.**_

He remembered how he had walked into that interview, and then walked out five minutes later, explaining that he was making a huge mistake. He had known that leaving town wasn't the answer because the few minutes he was in that interview, his heart ached unrelentingly for Aria. Even if the distance was commutable, he didn't want to be that far away from her. It was hard enough living across town.

He let the papers curl back around themselves and set them inside the box. In six and a half months since then, there had been plenty of ups and downs for he and Aria. Still, he hated to see that she was suffering, when it felt like it was at his hand.

He took a long gulp from his bottle of beer, and then proceeded to finish it off, before pushing himself up from the floor. He walked into the kitchen and dropped the empty bottle. His attention was quickly pulled back to the sitting room though.

"_I promise we are never going down  
><em>_We'll never go, we'll never go  
><em>_We will never go down-"_

He picked up his phone off the table and hit the talk button. "Shouldn't you have some girl in your bed right now?"

The other end of the line was quiet for more than a few seconds. Ezra sighed heavily.

"What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?"

"_Oh c'mon just tell him!" _There was a feint voice in the background, just barely able to be made out.

"Hello?"  
><em><br>"Don't kill me," _Hardy's voice finally came over the line.

"Not worth it," Ezra laughed. "Takes too long to train a new friend. What's up?"

"_He met someone!" _Yet again, there was that voice.

"Is that my sister?" Ezra asked. "Why is Adriana by you?"

More silence.

"_That's um, kind of why I called, man." _

Ezra's eyes went wide. He shook his head. "Oh hell no! Not on this planet, not now, not **ever.**"

"_You talk some sense into him. He's not hearing it from me." _

Ezra groaned, dropping onto the couch. He waited until he heard Adriana's voice before he launched into lecture.

"No way, Adriana, this is **not**happening. You know what he's like! Hell, mom and dad know what he's like! You are not-"

_"Ezra! Aren't you kind of the pot calling the kettle black?" _

He furrowed his brow. "What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"_That means that you're not exactly in the most holier-than-thou relationship, either. And…" _She was quiet for a few moments. She came back onto the line after he heard something akin to the clicking of a door. _"Hardy and I really like each other. We've been waiting to tell-" _

"Wait just a second," Ezra said, cutting her off. He took a deep breath in an attempt to quell the anger that was starting to build. "You mean to tell me that the girl that he was looking for new furniture with was with **you**?"

"_Ezra-" _

Ezra shook his head. "I- This is too much. I'll call you tomorrow."

He pulled his iPhone away from his ear and ended the call. He stood and walked into the bedroom, hitting the light switch as he did. He strode over to the nightstand. The cord for his phone hung off the edge of it. He plugged it in and then unbuckled his belt and then removed his pants, letting them fall to the floor.

Aria groaned and opened her eyes. She looked up at him in the dim lighting. "What's going on?" Ezra shook his head. "Nothing. Go back to sleep." He pulled his shirt over his head and then slid under the blankets next to her. Aria parted with his pillow, though only so she could snuggle up next to him. He smiled and wrapped his arm over her, kissing her head.

It was quiet for a few moments, and then Aria tilted her head up.

"I can hear your wheels turning. What's eating you?"

Ezra shook his head again. "Don't worry about it. Just sleep."

Aria pushed up on the bed. "I _am_ worried. You're upset. W- Is it work? Did my dad do something?"

"No," Ezra drawled. "Believe me, its stupid." Aria sat up, and Ezra groaned. He turned over the side of the bed and rested his hands on either side of him. Aria scooted up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"What's up?"

He looked over his shoulder at her and rolled his eyes. "I want to kill Hardy right now."

"Why? What'd he do?"

Ezra looked down at the floor. "He wants to sleep with my sister. Hell, he might _already_ be sleeping with her."

Aria nodded slowly. "So, you're afraid of losing your best friend? Or your sister?"

Ezra shook his head. He turned towards her and Aria scooted a few inches back. She moved her left leg around him.

"It's not that. I just- I know how Hardy is. He's not exactly the kind of guy who does monogamous. And Adriana deserves better than to date someone she's known to hurt other girls. She…" He stopped and shook his head.

"She's your little sister," Aria said softly. She turned his head towards her. "And **he** is your best friend. But if they really like each other, then maybe you've got to let her risk it." "He's gonna hurt her," Ezra insisted.

Aria tipped her head to the side and furrowed her brow slightly. "How many people have said that about you lately?"

"Aria-" "No, Ezra." She cut him off. "When all the chips were down, and everyone said I was nuts, I didn't run home to my parents and buy into what they wanted me to believe. And wasn't it **you** who said to never let anyone change what you know to be right?"

Ezra laughed, but rolled his eyes at the same time. "Aria…" She smiled at him and leaned forward. She kissed him. "You have to give Hardy a fair shot, babe. I'm not saying you have to like it, but if you don't-"

"I'll be a hypocrite," he finished for her. "Why do you have to be so morally…I don't know. Why do you always have to know what's right?"

"I'm your conscience," she teased. They both laughed. "Now, let's go to sleep before I fall asleep in your lap."


	12. In The Disorder, You Are The Peace Sign

**A/N: 217 gave me the want to do more with Ezra with his students. I know up to this point I've only done one chapter from his point of view. However, the end of the last chapter gave the perfect lead-in for some Ezra POV. **

_Chapter 12_

_In The Disorder, You Are The Peace Sign_

Ezra tossed a textbook down onto his desk as he walked around it. He had just come from his advanced composition class, and had a stack of fifty ten-thousand-word short stories to grade and return.

He settled the stack on the top of his inbox tray and settled down into the chair behind his desk. It was the only day of the week that he didn't have to deal with Byron on campus, which essentially meant it was the only day of the week that he wasn't having an argument.

He picked up the first story off the stack and flipped it open. The summary page just inside stated that it was a science fiction story about robots rising up in 2300, and the diminishing human race trying to take the world back. Ezra leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto the desk, proceeding to start reading. He read it through once, just to take in the story, and then read through it a second time to make notes and editing remarks.

Half-way through his third read-through, a knock on the door brought his attention up from the paper. Hardy was standing there.

"You must _really_ want me to punch your lights out," Ezra said as he dropped his red pen on the desk.

"Ezra-"

Ezra shook his head, pushing up from his seat. Even though his discussion with Aria from the night before loomed in the back of his mind, he desperately wanted to throw his best friend through a window. He knew Adriana's relationship with their mother was like shoelaces tied in a knot, which pretty much left him as the last to know. More than that, he'd spent more than enough refutable time with both Hardy and Adriana in the last few weeks for either of them to use the excuse that they didn't have time to tell him, or weren't quite sure how to bring it up.

"Just tell me this. Have you fucked yet?"

The question was blatant, and Ezra leaned back against his desk with his arms crossed. He was utterly serious in wanting to know the answer.

Hardy exhaled a deep breath and stepped inside the office. He pulled the door shut behind him. "No, Z. Adriana and I have more respect for you than to do that. We just-" "There is no **we** just yet; not by my standards. **You **and **Adriana**."

Hardy rolled his eyes. "Fine. _Adriana and I_… We started dating like six weeks ago, but we didn't want to cause trouble. We knew you and Aria were having a tough time with Jackie and all that crap with her parents. And, we wanted to make sure it was going to work out. We didn't want to rush into something and end up hurting each other. **Or you.**"

Ezra took several deep breaths as he listened to Hardy. They hadn't had sex. They had waited to tell him because of Jackie and Aria's parents.

"We just didn't want to pile on more stress."

He looked up to the doorway. Adriana was standing there, holding a textbook in her arms. She had a bag slung off her shoulder, and she was dressed in skin-tight jeans, a loose button-up top, and combat boots. Her hair was combed off to the side like usual.

Ezra pushed up the sleeves of his navy blue dress shirt and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his black dress pants. He looked to Adriana and then to Hardy. He looked back to Adriana again.

"I had a talk with Aria last night about this, and she brought to my attention that I may have been somewhat unfair about my reaction to your telling me about this."

Adriana took a step forward, pulling the door shut behind her. Ezra pulled his left hand out of his pocket and raised it to her.

"Wait," he said. "That doesn't diminish the fact that I am _incredibly _pissed that two of my very best friends kept this from me." He turned to Hardy. "Yes. I doubted your credibility as a good boyfriend before my own girlfriend talked me down off the ledge." Hardy nodded slowly. "Can't really blame you," he said honestly.

"No," Ezra agreed. "You can't." He turned to Adriana. "And I understand that you are old enough to make your own choices, but for as long as I can remember, you have **never** lied to me, and I have _**always **_been there for you! It's a little disheartening that you would keep something like this from me. I have **never** questioned your judgment, Dre. But I thought we were closer than this."

Adriana let out a long breath. She handed her textbook to Hardy and walked over to Ezra.

"Did **you** tell _me_ about Aria when you first met her?" Ezra tilted his head at her, giving her a stern look. "That's not fair, Dre. There were a **lot **of extenuating circumstances-" "Nevertheless!" Adriana argued. "You **didn't** come to me when you and Aria started dating. In fact, you didn't come to me until after you had come back from New York. Never once did I question whether you were making the right move, Ezra. I never asked you if you thought your choices were flawed. And I **definitely** didn't ask you if you had slept her when you came to me about her."

"**No**!" Ezra argued back. "There is a **giant** difference between you and Hardy getting cozy behind my back, and Aria and I trying to figure out how to make a relationship work when everything is working against us. You didn't know Aria before I told you about her. You hadn't been friends with her for years. More over, Aria isn't your sibling. You haven't watched Aria go from girl to girl like candy in a store! And most of all, if Aria and I break up, you're not at risk of losing either a best friend or a sibling.

Adriana exhaled a heavy breath and stepped back. She crossed her arms at him. "How long are we going to fight over this Ezra? Because we're arguing over something stupid that has no merit behind it. We love who we love. You should know better than anyone that we don't always get to decide that."

Ezra nodded slowly, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip for a few moments. "You're right. We don't. But if this goes south, and one or both you hurts each other, don't come looking to me for anything other than an 'I-told-you-so'. You're my sister." He looked over at Hardy. "And you're my best friend. And if you rip each others heart's out, I'm going to kill the both of you. I won't choose."

"We wouldn't ask you to," Hardy interjected.

Ezra looked up at him with an eyebrow raised. "You got that in writing?"

Adriana laughed. She walked over to Hardy and pulled something from one of her textbooks. "As a matter of fact, we do. And, should such an occasion arise that this needs to be brought forth, its your duty to do so."

She handed him the piece of paper and Ezra looked it over.

_I, the aforementioned signer, do hear by agree that any and all complaints that the other aforementioned signer should be removed from any and all family/friend/ect., functions are disallowed as of any date if the current relationship residing should end. _

_I also agree to not ask Ezra Fitz, from here on out referred to as the best friend, will not be asked to make a choice over the aforementioned signers. I also agree to not refuse to attend any event that the other aforementioned signer is attending just because of their attendance. I agree to maintain a civil relationship with said signer, regardless of the ending terms, given proper healing time. (Arguably settled to 3 months at most.) _

_Signed, Adriana Fitz & Hardy Keller_

They had even laminated the sheet of paper that it had been typed up on, and both of their signatures were in ink.

"I'm framing this," Ezra insisted. "And keeping it somewhere that neither of you can find it to cut it up, should you decide to get pissed at each other a week from now."

Adriana rolled her eyes. She took her textbook from Hardy and then kissed his cheek before she walked over to the door. "I have to get to psych class. Are we still on for Saturday at lunch? You me and Aria?" Ezra nodded. "Don't forget a present." Adriana laughed, grasping the door handle. "Right, cause I'm sure you haven't even figured out what to get her yet."

Ezra walked around his desk and suddenly turned all his attention to the paper that he had been grading before Hardy and Adriana interrupted him. Adriana simply laughed as she headed down the hall, away from his office.

"I'm not invited to this soirée?" Hardy joked.

Ezra looked back up at him. "It's lunch, followed by Adriana and Aria's sixteen year old gal-pals keeping her distracted while I… well, do things. You want something to do, you can help me figure out what the hell to buy her."

"An engagement ring wasn't on your mind?" Hardy asked.

Ezra shook his head. "Putting that off for her **eight**eenth," he mumbled under his breath, as he stared at the half-edited paper on his desk. He looked back up at Hardy. "Something other than a giant sterling silver heart and roses. Kind of _did_ that already…"

Hardy sat down on the couch and kicked his feet up onto the coffee table. "I thought romance an wooing was **your** department. Hell, back when you were with Jackie, you were always pulling some kind of hat trick just for the spontaneity of it all. Why not do something like what you did with her?"

Ezra glared at Hardy.

"Oh right. Psycho Vanessa Hudgens almost ended this relationship. Forget about that," Hardy muttered, feigning a stinging pain as he sucked air through his teeth. "Welp… I don't know. What's wrong with investing in a few dozen roses, doing takeout and a movie?"

"We **always** do takeout and a movie?" Ezra replied.

Hardy narrowed his eyes and stared at a random spot on the floor, apparently trying to come up with a better solution. After a moment, he looked up at Ezra. "Getting her parents to come around is still out of the question?" Ezra laughed, though it was more out of the idiocy of idea than the fact that he was amused. "Her father doesn't say **anything** to me that doesn't have anything to do with this class we're teaching together, and the other day, her mother made her cry. So, no. A reconciliation is not on the horizon for us."

Hardy nodded and returned his gaze to the floor. He was quiet for a few moments longer. Ezra began reading over the paper he had been editing before being interrupted, again. The only sound that filled the room was their breathing, and Hardy's fingers drumming against the top of the couch.

"I've got it!" Hardy said after a long minute.

Ezra nearly jumped from how excited Hardy seemed to be at what he had figured out. He looked up from his desk. "Share with the class."

Hardy stood up and walked over to Ezra's bookcase. He dug through it for a few minutes before he pulled a book out. Yet another copy of _To Kill A Mockingbird_.

"She likes this book as much as we do, right?" Ezra nodded. "She loves Harper Lee."

"I've got tickets to the play in Philly on Saturday night," Hardy said cheerfully. "I'll give them to you, on one condition."

Ezra gulped. He knew that there wasn't anything better than that. Hell, it was probably something that he wouldn't get the chance to do with her again for a very long time. Even so, he knew that Hardy could drive a hard bargain when he wanted to.

"What do you get out of it?" Ezra asked.

Hardy placed the book back on the shelf. "I want your help when your sister and I tell your mom. I know she's gonna kill us."

Ezra's eyes grew wide. "You haven't _told_ her yet!"

Hardy shook his head shamefully. "Ana wanted to, but I convinced her that we needed to tell you first. It was only fair."

Ezra had been standing, but he sunk down into his chair, letting out a long sigh. "Mom… She's always liked you, but I don't think she ever considered whether she'd have to like you dating Dre, Hardy. I mean, you **were **the one who asked her to throw my twenty-first at the beach house on Long Island."

Hardy nodded guiltily. "I know. That's why I need your help. I figure if she sees that we've got your support, she'll be less likely to kill me or Ana." Ezra rolled his eyes and huffed, shaking his head. "I'm so going to get chewed out for this. Whatever. Yes. I'll do it. But you owe me a hell of a lot more than tickets to a play." Hardy scowled at him. "They're third row!"

Ezra chuckled. "My mother is going to _kill_ me when she finds out that I knew before she did. Dre tells her _everything_. Hell, Dre told my mom about Aria and I before I did." Hardy crossed his arms. "So what do I have to do?" Ezra chuckled. "Well when does the play start?"

"Seven thirty," Hardy replied.

"Which means we're running to the train station to catch the 9:50 train on Saturday night," Ezra surmised. "That should get us back by ten-thirty at the latest. I'll leave a key here in my office on Saturday afternoon. All **you** have to do is take the hundred bucks I give you and buy and set up candles and at least three dozen roses. **That's it.** No sex with my sister on the sofa!"

Hardy laughed. "Alright." He looked down at his watch. "I've got students in need of learning. I'll get that stuff from you on Saturday morning." He headed out of the room a few moments later and Ezra turned his attention back to the paper on his desk.

He proceeded to finish grading it, and then made his way through more of them as the afternoon dragged on.

By the time there was another knock at the door, several hours had passed. He looked up curiously, to see Aria walking in.

"I thought you had to work?" He asked curiously.

Aria nodded. "I did. I'm done now." Ezra looked down at his watch. "S-seven thirty? I guess now I've got the answer to how to lose an afternoon." Aria laughed as she tossed her bag on the couch and walked around his desk. She hopped up onto the side of it. "And how is that?" "Grading twenty papers," Ezra replied, pulling his chair closer to her. He rested his hands on either side of her. "So how was your day?" Aria shrugged. "Just another day? One day closer to the weekend? How many more answers should I list off?"

Ezra smiled up at her. He pushed out of his chair and started shuffling papers around his desk so that they could get out of there.

"I have to ask you if you would mind shuffling around your plans with your friends on Saturday."

"Sure," Aria nodded. "But why?"

Ezra looked up at her as he placed the ungraded papers inside his bag. "Because we need to be on a 6:45 train. I know your friends wanted to take you to dinner, but will it be a problem to change those plans?"

Aria shook her head after a moment. She hopped down off the desk and pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans. "Spencer and Mike were talking about changing the plans to lunch anyway. I guess my parents made some plans for that night, but apparently my brother got me something," she said happily. Ezra simply smiled at her as he stuffed more of his things into his bag. Aria tapped away at her phone, texting back and forth with Spencer.

Once Ezra had all of this things packed up, he walked over to her, where she had sat down on the couch. He extended a hand to her. Aria picked up her bag and then took his hand and followed him out of the room.

"Tentative plans are spending the night at Spencer's. Brunch with Spencer, Emily, Hanna, Adriana and Mike, and then they would like to have custody of me and drop me off at the train station until we leave. Is that okay?" Ezra nodded, hitting the light switch as they walked out of his office. He shut the door once they were out of the room. "Sounds good. I've got a few things I have to get done on Saturday anyhow." He tilted his head down and kissed her.

Aria smiled, reaching her free hand up and cupping the side of his face, though she had her thumb, ring, and pinky finger wrapped around her cell phone. She kissed him back.

"What was that for," she asked cheerfully.

"We didn't say a proper hello," Ezra replied with the same cheerful smirk.

_-  
>I won't able to come to shore<br>__When I'm lost floating like a boat in the ocean  
>- <em>

Friday morning was greeted with a cheerfulness by the four girls as they stood in the hallway of the school. Spencer had them pulled out of their last two classes again to help finish getting the commons and gymnasium set up for the following week's expo. They all had also agreed to spend the night at Spencer's to ring in Aria's seventeenth birthday. The night was planned to be filled with s'mores, ice cream, and a whole lot of other calorie-loaded food that they were all going to be regretting the next day.

"So did you get that song finished last night?" Spencer asked Aria curiously.

Aria nodded, handing over a folded sheet of paper to Spencer. She knew better than to give up her journal; then she'd be looking forward to never-ending teasing comments from Hanna and Spencer about Ezra's eyes, what he was like in bed, and a thousand other things she didn't actually want to discuss with her friends.

Spencer opened the piece of paper and read it over. After a few seconds, she smiled and nodded her head. "This is going to be great. Are you going to play it, or just sing it?" "Just me and a guitar," Aria replied. She took a sip from the cup of coffee she had in her hand and pushed up the sleeves of the shirt she was wearing. It was yet another shirt of Ezra's, but this one was a casual sea foam green, and she had it tucked into the waistline of the blue skinnies she was wearing.

"It's got to make your mother nuts that you wear his clothes to school," Spencer commented.

Aria shrugged, looking over her shoulder as she heard her name called. Hanna was headed towards them with Caleb at her side. "Whatever. My mother won't even listen to me about my relationship, so what does it matter what I wear to school? It's not like I'm in a leather skirt and a tank top." Spencer furrowed her brow, chuckling softly. "Haven't you worn something like that before?"

Aria shrugged. "Probably."

Hanna walked up to them and handed Spencer a piece of paper. "According to Mr. Kim, I need your signature to get out of biology today."

Spencer took the sheet of paper between two of her papers and turned towards her locker. She scribbled her name across the bottom of the sheet and then turned back and handed it back to Hanna.

"So what are you and _Ezra_ doing tomorrow," Hanna asked teasingly.

Aria rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You keep asking, and the answer hasn't changed. I have no clue. All I know is that we're taking a train…somewhere." "New York?" Spencer questioned curiously.

Aria furrowed her brow. "I don't think so. He wants me to go with him and Adriana to New York City next week though. He wants me to meet his mom." Spencer and Hanna both gaped at her.

"That's big," Caleb commented.

Aria nodded slowly. "I haven't said yes yet. I'm a little afraid she might chew me up and spit me out. Adriana says she's pretty intense. Then again…" She tipped her head to the side. She knew that Adriana and Hardy had news of their own to share with Mrs. Fitz.

"Then again, what?" Hanna and Spencer both asked curiously.

Emily waltzed up, tucking her phone into her pocket. "Do we know where they're going tomorrow night yet?" "She hasn't budged," Hanna replied. Spencer reached into her locker and grabbed a cup of coffee out of a tray and handed it to Emily. Emily thanked her softly.

"Then again _**what**_?" Hanna pressed Aria.

"Okay!" Aria replied with a laugh. "You know how Noel is? How dates girl after girl after girl like he changes clothes?"

Each of the girls and even Caleb nodded.

"What does Noel have to do with the Fitz?" Emily asked.

"Nothing," Aria replied. "But Ezra's best friend is like that. He once told me this story about how he brought this girl back to their dorm, and just as things were about to start happening, Ezra started laughing." All four of them gaped at Aria. She giggled. "In his sleep," she added. "It's true, too. I've heard him do it."

"That's so cute!" Spencer swooned.

Aria blushed lightly. "_Anyhow_, Hardy has been dating Ezra's little sister. I guess they're getting all domestic, and they want to tell Ezra's mom next weekend." "Who are these people anyway?" Hanna asked, once she'd picked her jaw up and they had all managed to stop laughing at the idea of Ezra laughing in his sleep. Aria pulled her phone from her pocket and started pushing different buttons on the screen of her phone.

"I'm pretty sure I have that shirt," Caleb commented.

Aria smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if you did." "You're wearing Fitz's clothes again?" Emily asked.

Aria shrugged. "Just his shirt." "She's lying," Spencer commented quickly. "She has his Hollis sweater in her locker. I swear. His cologne is _all_ over it. And damn does Fitz smell _good_." Aria looked up at each of the girls. "Seriously? Will there ever be a day when this _isn't_ top subject? And if so, please tell me when." They each shrugged, chuckling. Aria pulled up Adriana's face book page on her phone and clicked on her display photo. She'd changed it the night before to a photo of she, Ezra, and Hardy at a Hollis football game taken the previous year. They were each adorned in Hollis' signature red and white colors, and Adriana was sitting in the middle with her arm wrapped around each of the boys.

"That's his sister and her boyfriend," Aria said as she handed her phone over to Hanna.

"She's hot!" Hanna exclaimed loudly. "And that body!"

She passed off the phone to Emily a moment later. Emily nodded. "I'd date her on looks alone." Aria chuckled as they proceeded to pass the phone around to each other. Just as she got it back, her phone buzzed with a text message. She closed facebook and opened the new message.

"_I know tonight's friend night…  
><em>_Can I eat dinner by u?"  
><em>_-Ezra_

Spencer was reading over Aria's shoulder. She giggled and then feigned vomiting. "You two can't be away from each other for more than twelve hours, can you?" "Yes we can!" Aria insisted, even though she was already replying to him that she would see him when he came to eat at Retta's. She had a four hour shift before she could join in on the fun at Spencer's house.

She sent off her message and then closed the messaging system on her phone, just in time for Spencer to snatch her phone out of her hand. Aria reached for it, only for Spencer to hold it up out of her reach.

"Really, Spence? You're doing _that?_" Aria whined. She was already in heeled boots, so she couldn't reach any higher than she was already trying to, to grab her phone. Spencer just giggled.

"Your background is you two kissing!" Spencer teased. "Just admit it! You _love _him." Aria laughed and closed her mouth, crossing her arms. "Because that was some **big** secret before now. Yes, I love my boyfriend."

Spencer's demeanor changed, and she suddenly pulled her arm down and handed over Aria's phone. Confused, Aria turned around, just in time to see Ella passing by with Mrs. Welch. Aria gulped and her face turned several shades of red. The older woman gave her a disapproving look, while Ella only briefly looked at Aria before continuing on with a discussion about something as they passed by.

"Don't know what the big fricken deal is," Aria muttered softly under her breath. "If she didn't know before Mike told the whole school, then she has to be completely blind." "Who?" The girls asked. Even Caleb as interested.

"Mrs. Welch," Aria replied, crossing her arms. "Every time Ezra and I had a free moment when he worked here, it seemed like she was constantly right there with questions or something else…"

"She's a cougar," Hanna muttered simply as she rested her chin on her fist. "Too bad Fitz likes his women younger," she added teasingly.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Jackie was older that him." She added with a whisper, "psycho bitch."

"She's the bipolar one who looks like she's trying too hard to be the next Vanessa Hudgens, right?" Caleb asked.

Aria giggled as she looked up at him. "Y-Yeah, if you want to put it that way."

"She's like a wannabe psycho Barbie, but she's not pretty at all," Hanna muttered maliciously. "Can't 'A' run **her** down?"

"Certainly would make my life more convenient," Aria muttered in response. She looked up at the clock on the wall across from them. "I have to get stuff from my locker before class starts. I'll see you in _Mrs. Montgomery's_ class." Each of the girls nodded, and Spencer patted her arm comfortingly as Aria turned and headed down the hall. She made a turn at the end of it, and half-way down the hall, she stopped at her locker. Mike was leaning against it with his arms crossed. He stepped aside as she walked up.

"What's up?" Aria asked.

"Turns out mom and dad want to leave town and go spend the weekend in New York. Some conference up at NYU." He uncrossed his arms and handed Aria a small wrapped box. "I wanted to give it to you tomorrow, but…you know."

Aria nodded. She frowned for a moment and then reached out and hugged Mike. He hugged her back for a moment and then stepped back. Aria furrowed her brow at him.

"I _just_ started rebuilding my reputation," he joked. "Can't trash it with by hugging my sister in the hallway."

Aria just laughed. She pulled her locker open and settled the box up on the top of her locker while she knelt down and pulled several books out and stuffed them into her bag. She stood up a moment later. Mike was still standing there.

"Is there something you wanted me to do?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "I figured you could open your present right now." "Oh!" Aria said as she blushed. She reached up into the top of her locker and grabbed the small box. She tore the wrapping paper off of it and then placed it the shelf at the top of her locker. She pulled the top off the box and then settled it up on the shelf as well, and moved around the little piece of cotton wrapped around what Mike had gotten her.

A moment later, a small silver ring was revealed. She gasped as she picked it up out of the cotton. It was a sterling silver ring with two small hearts intertwined.

"I know it's not much," he told her softly. "But I thought…I just figured with you and Fitz…"

Aria smiled, tears glimmering in her eyes. She launched at Mike and wrapped her arms tightly around him, sliding the ring on her finger as she did so.

"It's so great, Mike! I love it!"

He laughed, and a moment later, Aria pulled away and looked down at the ring on her finger. She was overjoyed. Her expression started to fall though, as Ella passed by and walked into her classroom, watching them briefly as she did so.

"Hey," Mike interjected. "Don't think about mom and dad right now." Aria looked back at him and smiled. "You're right. Thanks _so_ much for this, Mike. It means so much. And thanks for even caring that it's my birthday tomorrow."He nodded. "I'm sure in their own way, mom and dad do too. But I have to get to class before I get grounded from even going on this trip," he insisted. "Gotta earn it, you know?" Aria nodded. She hugged him quickly once more and then stepped back and placed the cover back on the box that had held her ring. She grabbed her cup of coffee off the shelf in the top of her locker and then shut it and spun the combination so that it wasn't preset.

She walked into class just as the bell rang and headed for her seat. Emily, Spencer, and Hanna were already in their own seats.

She dug a pencil out of her bag as Ella started passing out stapled sheets to the students in the front row. "I hope you've all studied well for this. When you're finished with your tests, turn them over. You may have your iPods or MP3 players out **after** you have finished the test, and only if the volume is at a level that doesn't disturb anyone around you. One complaint, and the privilege is revoked for everyone. Alright?" All of the students muttered varied responses. Ella returned to the front of the room and sat down at her desk. "You may begin." And so ensued, the students went to work on the test. The room was quiet, save for the scribbling of pencils and erasers, and the occasional heavy breath. Aria all but raced through the test, having her answers firmly planted in her brain. Her friends and Ezra were right. She knew the book like the back of her hand.

The last question on the test was an essay question, asking the reader to state their opinion on the theme, and elaborate. An extra sheet was attached if extra space was needed. Aria took up both sheets, front and back, and was still finished before everyone else. As she sat in her desk with her iPod playing softly, she couldn't help but steal a few glances up at Ella every now and then while she slowly turned the ring on her finger. Part of her wondered where Mike had gotten the money for it. Had he even paid for it? Was it something among the things he had stolen that he still had lying around? Or was it something he had borrowed money from their parents to get?

And why were they going to New York this weekend? Did her parents even think it was warranted to tell her that they were going out of town? Were they worried about anything happening to her while they were gone?

She pulled her journal from her bag and opened it to a new page and began to write. She simply scribbled down her thoughts for a while; anything to get her mind off the fact that once again her parents were finding a way to hurt her, even when she tried with everything inside of her not to care.

Eventually, the bell rang, though, and Aria stuffed her journal back into her bag. She turned her iPod off and stuffed it into her bag as well, and then grabbed her test and walked up to the front of the class among the other students. Ella stood at the door, collecting their tests as they exited the room.

Aria didn't bother looking up at her mother as she passed by. She simply added her test to the top and continued on out of the room. She caught up with Spencer and they headed off towards study hall arm in arm.

Spencer looked down at the ring on Aria's finger as she tossed her now empty coffee cup into a trash bin nearby.

"Did Fitz give that to you!"

Aria shook her head, smiling as she looked at the ring again. "Mike did. For my birthday." "Aww, that's sweet." Aria nodded, twisting the ring a little bit on her finger with her thumb. "He said he got it because it reminded him of me and Ezra, and he thought I would like it." "That's really sweet," Spencer said. "I'm glad you've got him." Aria looked up at Spencer happily as they walked into study hall. "Me too. He's great, you know. I'm glad he doesn't let mom and dad's decisions decide his own." Spencer just nodded as they walked over to their table and sat down. Neither of them really had any homework. They were both well beyond where they needed to be in their respective classes, and Ella hadn't assigned anything for the weekend.

Spencer pulled her student planner from her bag and looked over at Aria. "Wanna help hang banners around the school? I don't have anything better to do, and if I get it done now, then I have more time to sit on my butt at the end of the day." Aria giggled. She pushed out of her seat and dug through her bag for her student planner as well. Once the bell had rung for class to start and the teacher had taken a headcount, they both headed up to the front of the class, and got permission to head down to the office where all the printed up banners were being housed.

"So what did Hanna get for me?" Aria asked as she carried a thick stack of large posters under one arm.

Spencer laughed as she looked down at her. "Honestly? I have no clue. She hasn't said a word about it, which means either she doesn't have it yet, or she's suddenly learned how to hold water."

They both chuckled as they continued walking down the hall. Every ten or fifteen feet, they stopped and hung a poster on one of the walls.

Halfway through the class hour, they stopped in front of the women s bathroom.

"Do you have to use the bathroom?" Spencer asked.

Aria shook her head. "I'll wait." Spencer ducked into the bathroom, and Aria leaned up against the wall. She adjusted her grip on the posters and then held them out in front of her for a moment before leaning down to settle them on the floor for a moment. As she leaned forward to do so, she was given a hard shove from behind, knocking her to the floor and sending the fifteen or so posters flying

"Ow!" She whined as she slowly pushed herself up from the floor.

Spencer came out of the bathroom a few moments later and looked down at Aria. "What happened?"

She knelt down next to Aria and started pulling the posters back into a stack. "What the…?"

"Someone shoved me," Aria muttered, frustrated. She looked down to where Spencer was. There was a dark stain on the end of some of the posters. Aria lifted her hand and looked down at it. Along the side of her palm was a long, mildly deep paper cut. Her phone chimed a moment later.

She groaned and pulled it from her pocket. "Seriously?" "What?" Spencer asked. She finished pulling the posters together and then helped Aria up from the floor.

"_**May not be tragic, but definitely an accident.  
><strong>__**Love, A."**_

"What a bitch," Spencer replied in an angry whisper. She lifted Aria's hand with her free hand as she held the posted under her other arm. "C'mon, lets go to the nurse." Aria huffed, pulling the sleeve up on her shirt so that she didn't bleed onto it as they walked towards the office. They rounded a corner and headed down the main hall, and then walked into the office, where the secretary pointed them to the nurse.

She looked up just as Aria was walking in with Spencer quickly in tow.

"What seems to have happened here?" She asked.

"I dropped the posters," Aria lied. "Got a paper cut." The nurse looked at Aria's hand and nodded. "We'll get you cleaned and wrapped up."

Aria sat down in one of the plastic chairs in the room while the nurse grabbed a moist towelette and opened it up. She wiped up the cut on Aria's hand and then placed a dab of Neosporin on a square piece of gauze, and then placed it on Aria's hand. She wrapped a roll of gauze around Aria's palm four times, and twice around her wrist to keep it in place before proceeding to fill out an accident report and handing one of the sheets back to Aria.

"Good to go, kiddo." She said as she patted Aria's shoulder. Aria took the sheet and stood up. She and Spencer walked back out of the office and headed back towards the hall they had been in before and proceeded to finish hanging up the posters. When they were finished, they headed back towards their study hall.

"Has A ever been this direct with any one of us in school?" She asked.

Aria shrugged. "I don't know. I mean she, he, it, gave Emily that box of Alpha-bits with only A's in it, but… Unless A is Eric or Paige McCuthers, then, no."

"Why would A come at you in the school hallway," Spencer asked. She actually seemed genuinely puzzled.

Aria shook her head. "Tragic accident. I said it the other day; that it would probably take one to wake my parents up. Apparently that's what A thinks should happen to me, too."

Spencer wrapped her arm protectively around Aria, pulling her closer. "Well just be careful. I know you're not really alone that much as it is, but just…try not to be at all. Seems like A has finally zeroed in on you."

"God help me now," came Aria's dismayed reply.


	13. You Belong With Me Part 1

**A/N: **I forewarn you now. **This is the birthday chapter, and it's ended up being so long, that it was written two parts. However, I'm still posting the entire chapter. **That said, buckle up and enjoy the ride. It's a fun and games here on out (in this chapter at least :P). Also, forgive me for the dresses picked out… I had Taylor Swift on the mind, and had the Speak Now Concert Tour playing while I was writing.

Also, title name dropping happens in this chapter. It gives a little bit of insight into why I picked the song(s) for the title.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the lyrics...except for Inferno. Mine mine mine, all mine!

_Chapter 13_

_You Belong With Me (Part 1) _

Aria tossed a set of empty dishes into the water in the sink inside the kitchen before stepping back out into the chaos of Retta's. Rush hour had hit, and there were five different parties of multiple people all waiting on food.

She grabbed a large tray off the counter and started pilling plates on it as Loretta came around her and started doing the same thing.

"You're so good at this," Loretta commended. "Surprised you didn't start witnessing sooner." Aria laughed, placing the last of six plates onto the large tray. "I guess I never figured I had a reason for it, before." She picked up the tray off the counter and then turned around and headed off towards one of the tables, and started passing out dishes. She proceeded to the next table after she finished with the first one, and repeated the process. Finally, she reached a table that occupied a party of just three. She moved to set the plates down, only to be surprised when she realized it was her parents and Mike.

"I- Er-" She gulped and reached up onto the tray in her hand. "Burger and fries?" "Mine," Mike replied softly. "Dad got the steak. Veggie burger is mom's." Aria nodded. She settled the plates on the table and then turned and walked back around the bar and settled the tray on the counter. Loretta walked up behind her a few moments later. "Looks like your boy is here. You want me to get him?" Aria looked up at the doorway. Ezra was in fact coming through it. She smiled. "No, it's okay. I'll get him."

Loretta chuckled and headed through the doorway into the kitchen, where Allan and the dishwasher was signing along to the radio.

Aria walked over to Ezra with her pad of meal tickets and leaned over the counter. "What can I get for you this evening, sir?" She teased.

"Oh," I think for now I'll just have a large cup of coffee and a menu, ma'am," he joked back at her.

"Very well," Aria replied. She stuffed the pad into her apron and stuck her pen up into her ponytail and walked over to the coffee percolator. She grabbed the full pot of coffee and then walked back over to the bar and grabbed a coffee cup from under it. She placed it on the counter and filled it up and then walked back over to the percolator and set the pot back down. She then walked over to the register and grabbed a menu from beside it and set it down in front of Ezra.

He grabbed her hand as she did and looked suspiciously at the gauze on it. "What happened?"

"I slipped hanging up posters with Spencer," she lied. "Bad paper cut. I'll be fine."

"You sure?" He asked.

Aria nodded, pulling her hand free from his grasp. "Absolutely. How was your day?" "_So_ much fun," he laughed as he opened the leaned down on the counter and leaned towards him. Ezra looked up at her and leaned forward just an inch, and pecked her on the lips.

"I'd be careful what you say," Aria whispered. "My parents are right behind you." Ezra looked up at the large mirror up in the corner of the restaurant. Sure enough, Ella, Byron and Mike were at the table across the restaurant from where he was seated. He exhaled a deep breath and then flipped one of the pages of the menu.

"So how was _your _day?" He asked her.

Aria shrugged, though she let her hand dangle purposely in front of him. Ezra looked down at it, and after a moment raised an eyebrow. "Do you have a boyfriend I don't know about?" He asked, amused.

Aria giggled and shook her head. "It's a present from my brother…And I have to get table six." She patted his hand. "I'll be right back." She left him to continue perusing the menu while she walked over to the table and grabbed the glasses of the four girls sitting there. She headed back behind the bar and filled each of them up at the fountain before taking the drinks back and giving the girls their check for the bill. She walked back around the counter and pulled her pad and pen back out as Ezra flipped his menu shut.

"Made a decision, sir?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yes ma'am. I'll take the turkey club with lettuce, bacon, and mayonnaise. Fries for the side, please."

Aria scribbled down the abbreviations for his order and then walked over to the window and clipped up the order. "Turkey club with B, L, and Mayo. Side of fries," she called through the window. "Make it snappy." "Comin' right up," Loretta called back. A few moments later she stepped back out from the kitchen and waved at Ezra and Aria before she headed back around the bar and checked in with her tables. She stopped and chatted with Ella and Byron for a few minutes, and Aria walked over to the cash register as the group of girls and one of her other tables came up and paid.

"So are you going to tell me what we're doing tomorrow night?" Aria asked as she grabbed a dish cloth off the counter. Ezra shrugged, turning on his barstool to watch her as she walked around the bar and headed over to the table where the girls had been seated. She picked up all the plates, and Loretta took them from her as she passed by before Aria turned back to the table and began to wipe it down.

"Doesn't that kind of ruin the element of surprise?" He asked. "I promise it's worth it." Aria looked over her shoulder at him with a chuckle. She proceeded to toss the dish cloth over her shoulder and walk over to the other table and pick up the stray dishes, along with her tip.

"Hip hip hooray!" She called out cheerfully as she stuffed the six dollars into her pocket. She wiped down the table and then walked back around the bar and into the kitchen with the dishes. Just as she stepped back through, someone hit the bell in the window.

"Orders up! Turkey club, B, L, no T, with mayo and a side of fries!"

Aria pushed up onto the tips of her toes, and then squealed as her shoes slipped under her.

She went down fast, hitting the counter as she did so. Ezra shot up from his seat and watched as the food toppled down the side of the window and fell onto the back of the bar, falling into dishes filled with covered straws and on top of the soda fountain.

"Aria!"

Loretta came out of the kitchen as Ezra hopped over the side of the bar.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine," Aria insisted, brushing her hands down her clothes.

Ezra shook his head, grabbing a napkin out of one of the holders. "You split your lip. You're _not_ fine." Loretta looked down at the spot where Aria had slipped. "It's my fault, baby doll. Some ice got spilt, and I didn't get it cleaned up in the rush. Take a break. I'll get this cleaned up."

"Don't worry about it," Aria insisted, even as Ezra held her chin in his hand. She had cut the underside of it along with splitting her bottom lip open.

"Stop squirming," he insisted. He looked up at Loretta. "You got a first aid kit? This doesn't look bad, but she could use a big bandaid." "Great, I'm going to look like a freak on my birthday," she whined.

Ezra smiled at her, dabbing the napkin on his tongue to wet it before brushing it against her bottom lip where blood had started to come out. "A very beautiful freak," he insisted.

Aria rolled her eyes. Loretta pulled a large two by four inch bandage from the first aid kit and handed it to Ezra. Aria held the napkin against her chin and glanced over at her parents as Ezra pulled the paper apart. Mike appeared to be bickering with both of their parents. She wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that they hadn't even seemed to react to her falling.

Ezra pulled Aria around the counter and she sat down in the stool next to him, tilting her head back so he could get the bandage on over the cut on her chin.

"You sure nothing hurts?" He asked her, rubbing her hand up and down her back once he had put the bandaid on.

"Just my pride," Aria replied. "I saw that puddle. I should've gotten it cleaned up." Loretta came out of the kitchen a few moments later, carrying a clean plate with Ezra's order. "It's not your fault, baby doll. It's mine for not getting it cleaned up before. I should've thrown down some paper towel." She settled the plate in front of Ezra. "Here's a fresh order." He nodded at her with a smile and then offered one of his fries to Aria. She stared at him glumly for a moment before taking it and chewing it.

"Maybe I should lock you in a padded cell," he joked as he picked up his sandwich. "Cut your hand this morning, tripping tonight. It can only get worse, can't it? I'm a little nervous to let you drive yourself anywhere." Aria rolled her eyes, spinning around in her seat. She looked up at her parents and Mike again. Byron was tossing cash down on the table, while Ella and Mike were both getting out of the booth. Her phone chimed in her pocket as she grabbed a fry off of Ezra's place. She pulled it out and read the message.

"_Sorry. I tried." _

_-Mike_

Aria frowned comfortingly and looked over at him, conveying that she understood. She gave him a small nod and then showed Ezra the message. He looked over at his shoulder at Mike briefly, giving the same consideration before Ella, Byron, and Mike all headed out of the restaurant.

"How long is your shift?" Ezra asked her.

Aria looked down at the time on her phone. "A little under an hour left to go."

"Call it a night," Loretta insisted as she wiped up the floor and tossed the used paper towels into the trash. Aria looked up at her.

"Retta, it's fine. **I'm** fine, really-" Loretta shook her head. "You work _so_ hard, baby doll. You run yourself ragged, and you work more than you're _**supposed**_ to! Seriously, sweetie! Take the rest of the night. Finish dinner with your boy and then go join your friends like you've been telling me about since you got here! I know its your birthday tomorrow! And if you're sore on Sunday, take the day then, too. God knows if I don't have child labor laws breathing down my neck yet, they will be soon." Loretta laughed.

Aria chuckled, and Loretta set a plate down in front of her with an order of fries and a cheeseburger.

"Eat, girl. God knows you could use some meat on those bones. I swear you've lost weight since you started working her." Aria chuckled, picking up the burger off the plate. Even though the theory seemed daunting, considering she and Ezra were almost always eating takeout, she knew there was a slight reality to it all. She was always running somewhere or doing something ever since her parents had kicked her out two weeks earlier, and it had taken a bit of a toll on her. She hadn't lost so much weight that her clothes didn't fit, but they were certainly looser.

Ezra slipped his fingers between hers as he munched on a fry. "So how was your day really?" Aria shrugged, chewing on a bit of her sandwich. "Aced my English test, I'm sure of it. Other than that, there's really not much to share. Girls got into an argument at lunch like they do every day now. A few more of them broke up with their boyfriends. Some of them actually got back together. Oh, and Caleb referred to Jackie as 'the bipolar one who tries too hard to be the next Vanessa Hudgens.'"

Ezra dropped his sandwich on his plate and covered his mouth with his free hand as he struggled not to spit it out. Aria laughed at his reaction.

"That was _exactly_ what I thought." She told him.

Ezra forced the food in his mouth down in a gulp. "Hardy always calls her psycho wannabe Vanessa Hudgens."

Aria chuckled, taking another bite from her cheeseburger. She chewed and swallowed it.

"All I know is that we were talking about Mrs. Welch looking at me like I was a leper and then I said you'd dated older before, and that was Caleb's reply."

Ezra smiled. He finished chewing the last bite of his sandwich and wiped his hands with a napkin before leaning over and kissing Aria on the lips. She grabbed his face in her hands and held him there as she kissed him back. His tongue entered her mouth and brushed up against her own tongue for several moments before they parted.

"Try not to get injured," he asked her as he picked up a few fries on her plate. "I'd like to not see you any more damaged than you are right now, twenty-four hours from now."

Aria nodded, picking up several fries off of her own plate. "I promise I'll be safe, master."

_-  
>I'm always asking why<br>__This crazy world had to lose  
><em>_Such a beautiful life we never knew  
>- <em>

Aria sat down on the chaise lounge in Spencer's sitting room with a plate piled high with s'mores. She had already showered after getting there, and the girls had ordered in pizza to eat. They had all also given each other mani-pedi's and Spencer had put Aria's hair into a braid and re-bandaged her hand and her chin.

"This is great, Spence," Aria said cheerfully. "I'm glad your parents let us do this." Spencer nodded, though she laughed as she did. "My parents would have to be here to approve it. They're up in Philadelphia with Melissa. Her doctors are still worried about the baby."

"Speaking of babies," Hanna teased as she looked over at Aria.

Aria glared at her. "Ezra and I are _**not**_ trying to get knocked up! He's got condoms, Han."

"What about you," Spencer asked. "Do you have birth control?" Aria shook her head. "I'm allergic to it."

Her friends looked at her like she was nuts.

Aria just shrugged, picking up a s'more off her plate. "My body was all haywire when we were living in Iceland, and my mom thought birth control would help, but it caused these full-body hives. Something to do with my body chemistry make-up. At least that's what the doctor said. It never happened again, so I didn't look into it again." "Still, it only takes a pin prick in one of those to cause a major accident," Spencer said in a concerned tone." Aria shook her head. "Ezra and I…" She trailed off and set the plate aside. How could she put the words into terms that would make her friends understand that being a teen parent wasn't Aria's primary goal?

"We're not trying to upset you," Emily said as she took one of the s'mores off the plate. We just don't want you guys to get stuck into an even worse situation that you've already been put into."

Aria nodded slowly. "Well before you guys go off worrying that we go hog-wild, let me assure you that we don't. We sleep in the same bed yes, and we've had sex, but it's not a nightly occurrence. The first time was just…I don't know. A mix of fear, and want, I think." "Of what?" Hanna asked. She sat down on the floor in front of the fire with a plate stacked with chocolate chip cookies.

"Of being torn apart," Aria said softly. Her voice shook lightly. "It was the night my dad and Mike beat him up. It's funny, I imagined this perfect story with he and I so many times about how our first time would be, but I never expected that it would like that. Not that it was bad. It was just…unexpected."

"I've always respected your relationship with him," Spencer said just as softly. "I mean, you two fight for something that everyone else wants. When all the chips are down and there isn't another road do go down, you two still figure out a way to dig new hole and find a different way. That's a hell of a lot better than me, running every time things start to get hard." "Or me," Hanna added. "Putting guys' hearts on leashes."

"Or me," Emily concluded. "Falling for unattainable girls."

Aria chuckled. "Ezra isn't exactly attainable, either."

"He will be if you actually get emancipated," Spencer reminded her.

"At what cost though," Aria asked her. "Losing my parents? Losing my family? I mean, I slipped tonight and they were right there. Ezra hopped over the bar, but they didn't move a muscle. They just sat there in their booth."

"I thought we were talking about broken condoms," Hanna said after a moment. The other girls laughed, including Aria. Hanna prided herself in making Aria laugh.

"My original point is that we won't let something like that happen," Aria said to her. "Ezra and I love each other a lot and sure, we've talked about kids. Like seven, eight years from now. We're not crazy enough to do something like get knocked up while I'm in high school."

"Wait, so does that mean you've talked about marriage?" Emily asked.

Aria shrugged, picking up the s'more she had started eating before. "Not with serious plans just yet, but we know we want to."

"What about you?" Spencer questioned. "I know you. You've already got a date picked out." Aria chuckled, chewing on the graham cracker and chocolate in her mouth. She swallowed it and then took a drink of fruit punch sitting on the table next to her to wet her mouth. "Yeah, I have. I'd like to do it sometime in my sophomore or junior year of college. Maybe on our five year anniversary."

"Labor day?" Spencer chuckled.

Aria shrugged, glaring at her teasingly. "I don't know. I just….I never expected that this was going to happen when I was sixteen. I mean, every girl wants a boyfriend in high school, but how many of us expect to find _that_ guy? …Or girl. Sorry, Em." Emily shrugged, snatching a cookie from Hanna's plate.

"I mean, do I sound entirely nuts because I'm with him, and I never want it to end?" Aria asked.

The girls all shook their heads at her.

"Its like Spencer said," Emily started.

Hanna nodded. "You guys are like new-age Romeo and Juliet." Aria cackled. "God, I hope we've got a better ending than suicide, then."

"That reminds me!" Spencer shot up from her seat and charged across the sitting room. She dug through her bag and then walked back over with a folder and tossed it down on the floor.

"I thought we weren't doing homework this weekend," Hanna whined.

Spencer rolled her eyes as she sat back down. "We're _not_. I was going through submissions for the newspaper earlier today, and I found this sitting in the middle of the pile. It's called _Inferno_. Whoever wrote it didn't leave a name, but the bridge was…I don't know. This is what it says:

_I've had this dream  
><em>_So many times -  
><em>_I know how it ends -  
><em>_Romeo always lies_

_And Juliet wakes in the end  
><em>_To find out she still survived  
><em>_Without the love of her life -  
><em>_No, he didn't die_

_He ran away in fear,  
><em>_Far enough, he couldn't  
><em>_See her tears…  
><em>_Falling down…"_

Aria jumped off her seat and snatched the paper out of Spencer's hand. "Where did you get this?"

Spencer looked up at her suspiciously. "I told you. Someone submitted it-" Aria shook her head. "No, **no**. **I **wrote this. I-I mean I- part of it I wrote when Ezra took off to New York last year, and then I finished it when we were fighting because of Jackie. But, it- We… The only place I ever wrote that was in my journal." She paused for a moment and then shot up out of the chaise and charged across the room. "My journal-"

She dug through her bag, sitting on the island in Spencer's kitchen. After a few moments, she pulled books out of her bag until finally she found the suede soft-covered journal. She opened it up and flipped through her journal until she found the page where she had written the lyrics. There was a sheet of paper tucked inside.

_**Turn it over  
><strong>__**-A**_

Aria furrowed her brow and shook her head. "Turn **what** over?" The turned over the small piece of paper, but it didn't have anything written on it.

"Wait," Hanna said. She pushed up onto her knees and crawled over to Spencer, flipping the sheet of paper in her hand over.

"Aria!" Spencer called.

Aria walked back over to them and picked up the piece of paper out of Spencer's hands. She read it over and then groaned.

_**If you want your secrets to stay secrets, then stop digging for mine.  
><strong>__**-A**_

Aria sighed, flinging her arms out in a frustrated manner. "What that hell is this supposed to mean? I haven't done anything to dig into A being a bitch since my parents kicked me out. I don't have the time." Hanna, Emily and Spencer all exchanged a look.

"Okay, what have you three been up to while I'm slaving away over tables of left-over food and slipping on puddles of water?" Aria crossed her arms.

The three girls exchanged another look.

"Its just…" Emily started.

"We have some theories," Hanna added.

"And you didn't feel it pertinent to share?" Aria asked.

Spencer pushed up from her spot on the floor. "We figured you were busy. We didn't want to disturb you. Your life is filled with enough stress, isn't it?"

Aria sunk down onto the footstool in front of the chaise. "So what have you found?" "We didn't think we were getting anywhere," Spencer said. "We just-" "We still think it might be Noel," Hanna said. "He broke up with Mona, and…He-" "He's creepy!" Emily squealed. "He's always right there when something happens."

"So, do you have any definitive proof?" Aria asked. She looked down at the sheet of paper in her hands. Even if Ezra didn't still work at Rosewood, she knew he occasionally still saw the school paper. She didn't want him to have to see this.

"Not yet," Spencer replied. She looked over at Hanna and Emily.

"At least, not that we knew of. We were just kind of…digging. You know? Going back through old messages…" Emily said.

"Comparing dates. Stuff like that," Hanna added.

"But all that time he wasn't in school," Aria said. "How?" "Maybe he's not working alone?" Emily offered.

"Look, let's not get into it about A tonight," Spencer said. We're supposed to be having a good time. **You're** supposed to be having fun."

Aria sighed and nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Just please tell me this won't get printed."

Spencer took the paper out of her hands and tore it up. "I swear."

_-  
>Is he not strong enough<br>__Is he not brave enough  
>- <em>

"WAKE UP!" Aria groaned, shoving Hanna's jumping body down on the mattress. Hanna laughed and grabbed a pillow and proceeded to hit her with it.

"Get up! It's your birthday!" Spencer giggled, hitting Aria with another pillow.

Aria suddenly shot up on the bed and looked at both of them before snatching the pillow from Hanna's hands and swiping it around at both Spencer and Hanna. They both laughed and Aria giggled, settling the pillow back on the bed.

"Where's Em?" "On the phone with _Maya_," Hanna said teasingly. "C'mon! We already talked to the Fitz's sister. She's waiting for us at the grill!"

Aria looked over at the clock on Spencer's desk. 11:15.

"Why did you let me sleep so late?" She squealed.

Spencer shrugged, pulling her friend from the confines of the bed. "Orders from lady Fitz. Actually, orders from the Fitz himself, passed over to lady Fitz, to us. And she's waiting for us, so get up!"

Aria pushed put of the covers and walked around the room to grab her bag. Spencer shook her head, and pulled her out of the room. "Your clothes are in the bathroom. Get dressed and we'll meet you downstairs."

Aria rolled her eyes and walked into the bathroom across the hall. She shut the door behind her, and sure enough, her clothes were folded up on the vanity. Assorted makeup utensils were also set out as well.

She quickly changed out of her pajamas and then pulled on the black leather mini skirt she'd had in her bag, along with the black tights she had packed as well. The t-shirt was a striped black and white one. She pulled it over her head and then pulled her hair up quickly into a ponytail, and then quickly applied some makeup before making a mad dash out of the room.

She ran down the stairs, sliding across the floor in her tights. Spencer was standing near the door, holding Aria's bag and gesturing to boots scattered near the door. "Knee highs or ankle boots?"

Aria took the knee highs and proceeded to pull them on and then zip them up before she took her bag from Spencer.

"I look like crap," she commented.

"You look great!" Hanna insisted. "Besides, we'll come back here so you can get all dolled up for Fitz later."

"Yeah!" Emily said cheerfully. "Right now is about you having a shopping spree with your friends and finding the perfect dress for tonight." Aria looked up at them as Spencer pulled the door shut behind them and locked it. "Why? Do you know something about tonight that I don't?" They all shook their heads. "Just that Lady Fitz said you need a gorgeous dress for tonight."

They walked over Aria's car and got in. Spencer sat next to Aria in the front seat while Hanna and Emily took the back seat, each texting their significant others as Aria pulled the car out of the Hastings driveway and headed into the heart of Rosewood.

The drive was short, and they soon reached the Rosewood mall. Aria managed to find a good parking spot, and she spotted Adriana rather quickly. The eccentric girl was standing near the doors chatting on her phone happily. She was dressed in a loose black and gray long-sleeved shirt, though she had the sleeves pushed up, and a pair of black pants paired with black combat boots.

Aria turned her car off and get out, grabbing her bag and slinging it across her shoulder as she walked around it. The other girls got out as well and they walked towards the entrance as Aria hit the lock button on her fob. Her car made the typical double beep as they walked up to the entrance.

Adriana ended her phone call and tucked her phone into her pocket, smiling giddily at Aria as she walked up with Spencer, Hanna and Emily. She hugged her tightly. "How're you feeling today? Z said you slipped last night?" Aria shrugged, smiling back at her. "A little beat up, but I'm alright. How're you?"

Adriana picked up a tray of coffees and started handing them out. "Spencer said you like mocha lattes, so that's what I got you. And I'm great."

Aria looked over her shoulder, and glared at Hanna, who was texting Caleb.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Ending conversation now." She tucked her phone into her pocket and took the cup of coffee Adriana was offering her.

"This is Spencer," Aria said, pointing with her thumb. "And Emily, and Hanna." She turned back to Adriana. "And this is Adriana, or as they like to call you, Lady Fitz."

Adriana giggled as she tossed the empty drink try into the trash next to her. "Lady Fitz. I like that. Dutchess of New York City?"

Aria laughed and pulled open one of the doors for the mall. "Let's shop. I know there's a pair of Chanel sunglasses in here with my name on them."

The five girls headed into the building and Aria linked her left arm into Adriana's right, and her own right into Emily's left as they walked down the stairs and headed into one of the stores. They all headed directly for the dresses.

"So what do you know about Aria's present tonight?" Hanna looked up as she pulled a purple sparkly floor length dress from one of the racks and examined it curiously. Hanna was standing one rack over, looking at a knee length red dress.

"I know _where_ they're going, but I have no idea what Ezra got Aria for her birthday."

Hanna charged up to her and leaned over suspiciously. "What do I have to do to get you to tell me?" "Oh, I'll tell you," Adriana said cheerfully. "After seven, when they're on their train."

Hanna pouted and Adriana giggled again. She pulled a gold sparkly dress that would fall to just above the knee out and showed it to Aria.

"Yes? No?"

Aria looked up at it and shrugged. "I mean is it that glitzy of a date? I might as well find something I'll wear to prom as well. Something like…" She began to search through the rack. After a few long minutes, she pulled a navy blue dress that wrapped around the neck and had a sweetheart neckline. "This."

Adriana looked at it curiously for a moment and then pulled out her cell phone and snapped a photo of it. She typed something on her touch screen and then sent the message. A few moments later, her phone began to sing with a reply.

"_The view is so clear__And it's crazy up here  
><em>_Life is amazing with you on the ride…"_

Hanna looked over at Adriana. "Who is _that_?"

"Ezra." She replied like it should've been the most obvious answer in the world.

"You have a love song as your brother's ringtone?" Aria laughed. She had started looking at jeans a few racks over.

"What?" Hanna asked.

"It's a song about siblings, Hanna." Emily said.

"No time to get lazy, the journey gets perfect, the pace is so crazy, the race is so worth it, I will be with you, we'll do this together, always together?" Spencer recited. "It's about your sibling being your best friend…I remember those days." Aria looked up at her sympathetically. "Me too."

"Ezra approves," Adriana said as she pushed buttons on her phone. "And apparently my boyfriend thinks its hot too."

Hanna looked over at Aria curiously. "So, what's your ringtone for Ezra?"

Aria slung the dress over her arm and pulled her cell phone out of her bag. She scrolled through the ringtones on her phone until she found it. It began to play.

"_Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain  
><em>_Kiss me on the sidewalk, take away the pain  
><em>_Cause I've seen sparks fly whenever you smile…"_

"Okay, now I'm curious," Spencer chimed in. "What's his ringtone for you?" "Oh! I have that!" Adriana started pushing buttons on her phone. "I made him send it to me."

"_She's my kind of rain  
><em>_Like love from a drunken sky  
><em>_Confetti falling down all night  
><em>_She's my kind of rain…"_

"Aww that's sweet," Emily said. "Would it sound totally cheesy to say that's Maya's ring tone?"

"Of course not," Aria replied.

They were all silent for a few minutes as they searched through the racks of clothes. After a few minutes, Hanna looked up again.

"I'm curious about something?" "No Hanna, NASA does not stand for Not Another Space Astronaut." Hanna glared at Spencer. "_Very funny. _I was going to ask how you and Ezra decided to tell your parents about your relationship, Aria."

Aria looked up at her and then at Adriana. Adriana looked back down at the dresses and started thumbing through them again. Spencer pulled out a floor-length baby blue dress with a v-neck line that had jewels in a flowered design on the bodice.

"You like?" Aria, Hanna, Emily and Adriana all nodded.

"Remember how we all got our one phone call the night at the police station?" Aria said.

Hanna nodded. Aria pulled a plaid blue skirt out from one of the racks and held it up against herself.

"I called Ezra," she started. "And when he showed up, my mom saw him. Except, she thought he was secretly dating Spencer, so she told him to leave town and end it. He left after that, but I called him later that night and told him about everything Jackie had said, and about the paper. He said he wouldn't turn her in, but he also yelled at her for threatening me. He knew when he did that, though, that we had to get to my parents before she did."

"So why not wait for you?" Hanna asked. She pulled out a sparkly body-hugging red dress and held it up.

"You'd look hot in that, Hanna." Spencer said. Hanna smiled at her.

"I was _supposed_ to be there," Aria said. "But my car stalled and I had to wait for Caleb to get out of detention so it would start." "Oh, right," Hanna muttered. "Sorry."

Aria shrugged. "Anyway, when Ezra got there my parents wanted to know why he was there, and my mom started laying into him about why he hadn't skipped town yet, and they were all down in the living room. They all kind of went nuts. Mike punched him, and then he and my dad beat Ezra up. When I got there, I started screaming and they saw me. My parents said we weren't allowed to see each other anymore. So, naturally, I left with him."

A sales woman walked up to them. "Can I help with anything?" Aria looked up at her and nodded. "Do you have an open small sweater that would go with this?" She nodded and walked away. She returned a few moments later with a sweater that fell just below the breasts, and wrapped around just the arms and shoulders.

Aria smiled at her and took it. "Thank you."

The girls wrapped up their shopping in that particular store a few minutes later, and headed towards the cash register.

"Can I have your dress for a moment," Adriana asked.

Aria handed it over and turned around to look at the dresses the other girls had picked out for prom. Hanna had switched the sparkly red dress for one that was made of satin and had a leather vest that wrapped around the chest and waist. Emily had picked out a kelly green silk dress that fell to above the knee. Spencer had picked out a floor-length gold dress that had beading on the bodice.

"That'll be a hundred and fifty four dollars and sixty-eight cents." Aria whipped her head around. "Adriana, that dress-" "Is my present to you," Adriana replied, handing over the dress one it had been placed in a garment bag. Aria shook her head and hugged the older girl.

"You didn't have to do that." Adriana hugged her back. "Face it, you're stuck with me. One day, you're going to marry my best friend. I won't even begin to ask to be maid of honor," She joked as she looked over at the other three girls.

"Wait, is the Fitz proposing!" Hanna squealed.

"Now," Adriana replied. "If I told you that, it wouldn't be fair. I won't say yes or no, I'll only say I know _when_ he's going to ask." "That's not unnerving at _all_," Aria murmured as she pulled money from her bag while the cashier totaled up the other clothing she'd bought.

Adriana leaned into her and whispered. "I promise it's not tonight."

Aria gulped down a swallow. "Good to know."

The girls finished paying for the clothes and dresses they had picked out before they all headed down to the food court. Aria and Adriana settle for pizza while Spencer and Hanna got subs, and Emily got a burrito. They all met back at a table in the middle of the court.

"We're also supposed to feed you before you go out tonight," Spencer said as the munched on a pickle on her sub.

"Dinner's not included?" Aria looked over at Adriana. She just shrugged.

"All I can say is that your date is going to go late. Dinner may or may not be included. Hence the sleeping in."

Aria picked a piece of pepperoni off her piece of pizza. "Well this day needs to fly by then, so I can know what I'm doing on this date."

"Enjoy yourself!" Spencer feigned a yell at her. "You only turn seventeen once." Aria nodded, scratching her chin gently. The scrape from the night before had scabbed over, but itched like crazy. They were all quiet for a few minutes as they ate their food.

"What's wrong?" Adriana asked after about five minutes.

Aria looked up at her. "Hmm? Nothing."

Emily shook her head. "She's right. You look upset."

Aria shook her head, going back to picking toppings off her pizza. "I'm fine. Really." "Should we argue over the meaning of 'fine' when women say it?" Hanna asked.

Aria shook her head again. A moment later, she pushed up from her seat and walked off to the bathroom. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily shot up out of their seats, ready to go after her.

"Wait," Adriana said. They all looked back at her. "Let me go?"

The other three girls sank back into their seats, on the premise that maybe Adriana could say something that they hadn't, or at least in a way that would come across differently than they had.

Adriana walked across the food court and over, into the women's bathroom. When she walked in, Aria was pulling her ring back on her right pinky finger. She took a deep breath and then reached up and wiped the tears away on her face.

Adriana walked over to her and hopped up onto the vanity. "Hey."

Aria looked up at her and attempted to smile. "Hey."

"It's your seventeenth birthday, you have an _amazing_ date planned tonight with one hell of a guy, if I do say so myself, and all of your closest friends are spending the day with you. So why the tears?" Aria shook her head and looked down, gripping the sink. "It's stupid. I don't even know why I am. I should just get over it all already." "Your parents?" Adriana asked.

Aria nodded slowly, keeping her head down.

Adriana hopped down from the sink and hugged Aria, shaking her head. "You're not stupid. Thick skin or not, it would bother me if I had fallen in front of my parents at work and they didn't make a move. It would bother me if my parents refused to listen to reasoning, too. How you feel isn't wrong. But can I let you in on an idea of mine?"

Aria looked up at her and nodded as Adriana pulled away. She grabbed Aria's shoulders.

"Don't let them get to you today. I'm sure they'd love that, to know that on your birthday, a day that's planned to be filled with fun and happiness, got ruined for even a moment because it made you second-guess your choice to fight for your relationship." "I don't-" Adriana shook her head at Aria. "You don't have to lie to me, sweetie. I know you and Ezra would never leave each other, even if you've thought about it. If you were going to, you would have already."

Aria exhaled a long breath and nodded. She turned to the mirror and looked at herself. "I just don't understand why they're continuing to be like this. I don't understand what I have to do to make them realize…" "You've probably done everything already," Adriana told her. "Sometimes it just takes time for it to sink in. And if it doesn't, then they obviously don't have your best interest at heart. I know that's tough to hear because they're your parents, but it happens." After a pause, she continued. "Now, you're going to wipe your tears and we're going to go back out there and finish our lunches and then continue this shopping spree for a while before we get you all hot and dolled up for that brother of mine."

Aria laughed softly. "Yeah, he's not to bad himself."

They headed back out into the food court and rejoined the other girls. Like Aria should've predicted, they were all texting their significant others cheerfully. She was about to launch into a lecture, when her own phone started to ring in her pocket.

"_Drop everything now, meet me in the pouring rain-" _

She pulled it out and opened the text message. The picture was of what looked like top of two tickets.  
><em>"Curious yet? :)"<br>__-Ezra_

Aria laughed and typed out a reply.

"_Your sister won't tell me anything. Of course I'm curious."  
><em>_-Aria  
><em>_Message is sending … …. Message sent!_

A few moments later, her phone lit up again and started playing Sparks Fly a second time. She opened the message.

"_All I'm saying is this:  
><em>_Argument in the classroom at Rosewood."  
><em>_-Ezra_

Aria huffed and Adriana laughed as she read the message over her shoulder.

"That narrows it down _so_ much," Aria said sardonically as she typed it onto her phone. She sent the message a few moments later and then tucked her phone back into her bag.

"Okay ladies, phones away, or I'm leaving and going to hook with my boyfriend," Aria insisted.

Spencer stuffed her phone into the pocket of her blazer and a moment later Emily shoved her phone into her pocket. Spencer slapped Hanna.

"Now, don't ruin it for the entire group," she insisted.

Hanna scowled and pouted. "Caleb is in California for the weekend. He was sending pictures of his little brother."

She stuffed her phone into her pocket and then picked up her sub and began eating it again. The girls finished their lunches in silence and then headed out to Aria's car to part with their purchases before they walked back into the mall and headed in different directions. Aria, Emily, and Adriana walked into Hot Topic while Hanna and Spencer headed for Old Navy.

"So we must be going to a show," Aria questioned to Adriana. "I mean I wouldn't need a dress for a concert. Unless it was a symphony…" Adriana just smiled as she looked up at the display of band t-shirts hanging up on the wall. "I'm not saying _anything_."

"You know you want to," Emily teased as she pulled a t-shirt off of one of the racks.

Adriana cackled. "Yeah right! I'm already in hot water with Ezra. And just a suggestion, but if something ever happens to your relationship with Ezra and you decide to date one of your brothers friends…try not to choose the one who's been promiscuous. And definitely not his college roommate."

Aria just laughed as she pulled a Paramore t-shirt from among the racks.

They finished out their shopping expedition a little over an hour later and then headed back to Spencer's house. Adriana followed behind them in her own car. From a general consensus, the other girls seemed to like Adriana, and she seemed to like them as well. She had music in common with Emily and academics in common with Spencer, while Hanna had gushed when she saw Adriana pick out a pair of Christian Lobutains when they had stopped to find shoes. Aria had picked out a pair of black slingback heels that crossed over the front of the foot and also wrapped around the ankle.

"I can't believe I spent eighty dollars on a pair of shoes I'll probably only wear once," Aria muttered as she pulled the box out of one of the bags. Everyone had settled their purchases up onto the counter.

"I'll take them off of your hands when you're finished," Hanna said happily.

Aria laughed as she picked up the bag her dress was in. "I might just take you up on that offer." She looked down at the bag in her other hand. It held a strapless bra and nude tights. "Alright, I'm going to jump in the shower, and then I'll be back down."

The girls nodded, and waved her off.

"Don't forget to put on a bathrobe when you're dressed!" Spencer called after her. "Don't want you getting cake on your dress!"

"Yeah, yeah," Aria called from the top of the stairs.

Once they heard the shower running, the girls cleared off the table and dug out the presents that they had bought for Aria, which they had stored in the barn to keep from raising Aria's suspicions. Adriana brought in the present that she had gotten for Aria as well, and phoned Ezra to let him know it was alright to come over. Among the changed plans, the girls had decided that they wanted Ezra to join them while they had cake with Aria, even though he had a dinner planned for he and Aria after the show.

About forty minutes later, Aria's footsteps filled the stairwell as she came down the stairs to the Hastings sitting room. She was wrapped up in Spencer's fluffy lavender bathrobe, and had her hair wrapped up in a towel.

"Relaxed?" Spencer asked as Aria walked into the kitchen.

Aria nodded. She bent over and pulled the towel off her head and then ran a hand through her hair, shuffling it around a bit. Spencer took the towel from her and walked it into the laundry room before she directed Aria to a stool.

Aria sat down and ran her hairbrush through her hair. When Spencer walked back into the room, she pulled most of Aria's hair up into a ponytail, leaving down a few strands to frame her face. Afterwards, she tore open a package of bobby pins and started pinning stands of Aria's hair up into a bun.

"What time is it?" Aria asked.

"Five o'clock," Hanna said as she came down from the stairwell. She was carrying Aria's makeup bag. She walked over to the island and set it down.

Emily opened the oven and pulled out a large cake pan. Aria gaped.

"When did you have time to make lasagna!"

"This morning," Spencer said cheerfully. She was in the process of pinning up another strand of Aria's hair, when she was distracted by a knock on the back door. She dropped the strand and placed the bobby pin on the table and ran over to the door.

"Spencer invited Toby," Hanna teased. Aria spun around in time to see Spencer giggle as she hugged Toby. He waved to the girls and followed Spencer into the house.

"I made it," Spencer finally finished. "Left it in the oven to keep warm while we were out."

"I'll cut it," Adriana offered. "Someone just needs to tell me where the plates are."

Emily got out plates, a spatula, and a knife. Adriana took the knife and sliced it through the lasagna and then started taking pieces out and placing them on plates.

"I hope you've got clothes on under that thing," Toby joked as he leaned up against the counter.

"Try a really hot dress," Spencer said as she finished pinning up Aria's hair.

"Turn," Hanna ordered. "You're going subtle and almost naked." "No," Aria insisted. "I'm all beat up!" Hanna glared at her. "You are **hot**, Aria. And God knows Fitz wants you whether you're all done up with makeup and a dress, or in sweats with the flu."

"Ew," Adriana grimaced. "Please don't put that image in my head."

Five minutes later, Hanna finished up with Aria's makeup. She'd gone with eye shadow that matched Aria's outfit and black eyeliner and mascara. Her lipstick was a soft shade of pink close to Aria's natural color. Hanna had only applied the slightest amount of blush as well.

"Nonstick lipstick," Hanna said. "So you shouldn't smear." Adriana passed Aria a plate of lasagna and a fork. They all settled around the island and started to eat. Spencer got a plate for Toby and then settled in his lap while they all ate.

"Happy birthday," he said softly to Aria as he dug his fork into his own piece of lasagna.

"Thanks," Aria replied with a smile.

"You're into blessthefall?" Adriana asked Toby. He looked up at her and gave a somewhat suspicious look.

"Who are you?"

"Sorry," Aria muttered. "Toby, this is Ezra's sister, Adriana. Adriana, Toby is Spencer's boyfriend."

Toby nodded and then looked back at Adriana. "Yeah. Big fan of You Deserve Nothing And I Hope You Get Less." Adriana smirked. "You know their song Forty Days?"

Toby nodded. "I've been trying to learn the drums for that song."

"Do you know its companion? And Counting?" Toby nodded again. "Yeah, they're supposedly engaged now. Getting married in a few months."

"Sorry, what?" Spencer asked. "Who?"

"The lead singer of blessthefall and his girlfriend," Adriana explained. "She wrote him a song called And Counting when they were separated for during tours. He wrote 40 Days as a response."

"I found a love I've never had before, you changed me; and I will wait however long it takes, you changed me…you say the words that I've been thinking, I'll never let you go…" She smiled. "That's pretty. I want to hear." "You sure?" Toby asked. "It's pretty hard rock." Aria nodded. Spencer moved off of Toby's lap and walked over to the sitting room. She picked up her laptop off the coffee table and brought it back into the kitchen. The room was silent for the next few minutes as Toby found the song and then played it.

"_Let's start at one  
><em>_And count the days  
><em>_Let's hope to God that time flies like they say  
><em>_Cause this instance can't distance my heart from yours tonight  
><em>_But I'm lying awake now and I'm holding your picture  
><em>_It's so cold here without you, without you…"_

By the time the song was over, everyone had finished eating. Spencer took everyone's plates and then set her laptop on the counter behind her. She opened her mouth to say something about presents, but was stopped by the front door opening.

"You said I should just come in…" Ezra stood in the doorway nervously, his hand still on the door.


	14. Wrapped In Your Arms, I'm Home Part 2

**A/N: Warning: M Rated fluff ahead!**

_Chapter 13_

_Wrapped In Your Arms, I'm Home (Part 2)_

"_You said I should just come in…" Ezra stood in the doorway nervously, his hand still on the door. _

Aria popped up off her stool and rushed over to him. He chuckled as he hugged her and then kissed her chastely.

"Wow, Fitz. You clean up nice," Hanna said. She followed it up with a whistle of approval. He had on a black suit and a navy blue vest over a black dress shirt.

"Color coordination?" Spencer asked.

Aria pulled Ezra over to the table. He held a small envelope in his hand. He settled it down near the gifts that sat out on the table. She swung her legs up into his lap.

"I missed you," she said softly.

"I missed you too," he whispered back. He leaned over and kissed her.

"Alright, stop before I puke," Adriana insisted.

Everyone in the room chuckled. Spencer walked over to the fridge and opened it up. She pulled a quarter-sheet cake out and carried it over to the island. "Cake, anyone?"

"Marble, right?" Aria asked.

"Marble with butter cream frosting," Spencer confirmed. "Corner piece?"

"Yes please."

Spencer looked up at Ezra. "Ezra? Cake?" He nodded.

Spencer passed Aria a slice of cake on a clean plate and a clean fork.

"So are you going to tell me where you're whisking me away to?" Aria asked.

Ezra shook his head, smirking at her. "You're going to know soon enough. That should be enough."

Aria pouted, though she gave up defeat as he pushed a forkful of icing into her mouth. She scowled at him as she licked the icing off the prongs.

They all ate their cake while chatting mindlessly about different things. Eventually, they had all finished their cake, and Aria was antsy to find out what everyone had gotten her. She dove for the envelope Ezra had brought with him, only to have Adriana snatch it off the table.

"Hey!" She whined. "Last present," she insisted. Ezra chuckled in his seat.

Aria scowled at her and then grabbed one of the wrapped presents. It was a moderately sized box in white wrapping paper that had party hats and 'happy birthday' scrawled on it in fun scribbles.

"I bought that," Hanna said. "If you hate it, I'll give you the difference." Aria nodded as she pulled the wrapping paper off. Once she had it off, she pulled the cover off the box.

"Hey!" She cheered. "it's the Chanel sunglasses I wanted!"

Hanna smiled at her. "Don't ask how much I had to give the sales guy to hide them when you went into the store today."

"You did _pay_ for those, right Han?" Spencer asked.

Hanna glared at her. "Of course I did!"

"My present next," Emily said cheerfully. She passed a large, flat box across the table. Aria took it and began tearing off the paper. When she had it off, she furrowed her brow. "A pizza box. Em, you got me pizza?" She pulled the lid open; the box had been unused. Inside rested what looked to be a finished scrapbook. Aria pulled it out and opened the first page. It was a photo of she and Alison from a few days before Alison had died.

"Aw, Em, this is so sweet," Aria murmured. She ran her fingers down the photo and gulped down a knot threatening to form in her throat. She got up out of her seat and walked around the table and hugged Emily tightly. Emily hugged her back.

"We all had photos," Emily insisted. "And my mom helped me. The last few pages probably aren't great. I finished them after she moved by my dad."

Aria shook her head as she pulled away from her. "It means everything, Em."

Spencer passed her a box when Aria had returned to her seat, which she had conveniently moved over a few inches so that she was closer to Ezra. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on the base of her back as she opened Spencer's gift.

"Aww, a Hollis beanie!" Aria giggled as she pulled the small hat out of the box. As she did, a chain slid out of the inside of it. She picked it up; a locket was on it. The front of it was engraved with _best friends_. Aria looked up at Spencer and then opened up the locket. On one side was a photo of all the girls with Alison, and the other side was just a photo of the four of them. "Spencer!"

Spencer shrugged. "If it sucks-" "It doesn't _suck!" _Aria insisted. "I'm going to wear it tonight. Put it on for me?"

Spencer nodded. She walked over to Aria and took the locket from her. She opened the clasp and then placed it around Aria's neck and re-clasped it. Aria looked down at it happily. Then she looked up at Ezra. "Present?"

He looked over at Adriana.

She handed over a small bag. "Open this first." "Who's this from?" Aria asked as she looked back and forth between them. "Me," Adriana said. Aria pulled out several pieces of tissue paper and settled them aside. Inside was a necklace with _sisters_ hanging from it. Aria smiled at it.

"Someday soon," Adriana said. Aria nodded, letting Ezra look it as she got up and walked over to Adriana. She hugged her.

"It's beautiful. Thank you." "One more," Hanna said as she picked up a bag up from the floor. She passed it to Aria.

Aria pulled out more tissue paper and tossed it gleefully up into the air. Everyone chuckled at her.

She reached into the box and pulled out a small box. She removed the cover and moved around the layer of cotton inside of it until she found what was inside. She pulled it out. It was a charm bracelet. Among the different charms dangled a guitar, the letters to her first name, an E, F, H, and a S. There was also a charm that said _In loving memory_, a charm with a mockingbird, a charm with a pink heart on it, and a charm with a piano on it, among others.

Aria slipped it onto her wrist. She reached back into the bag and pulled something out wrapped up in tissue paper. She pulled off the tissue paper to reveal a photo of all four of the girls with Alison. They in Alison's back yard, the day she had been killed. She was in the middle as usual, and looked incredibly tan next to them. Aria was on her left with Hanna next to her on the end, while Emily was on Ali's other side and Spencer stood next to her.

"Its from all of us," Spencer said. "I found it on an old memory card the other day."

Aria hugged each of her friends individually and thanked them all again before returning to her seat, and asking Adriana to put on the necklace she'd gotten for her as well; she wanted to wear both. Once she had it clasped, Aria put all of her presents away except for the scrapbook. Everyone gathered around to look at the pictures as she flipped through the pages.

"She's the girl who went missing two years ago, right?" Adriana asked as she stared at a photo of Aria and Alison.

Aria nodded, staring at a photo of she, Spencer, and Emily from middle school. They had been painting a set for the spring play, and Aria was covered in paint from a spill she'd had earlier that day.

"This is cute," Ezra chuckled.

"We were all friends with her," Aria explained. "She kind of brought us all together."

She turned the page and Hanna cringed. "Freshman semi-formal, oh my gosh. Em, how could you put that picture in there?"

Aria chuckled, though she couldn't help but cringe as well. Her pink streak was quite bright, and matched well with the hot pink dress she'd worn. It had been something Ella had picked out.

"Pink hair?" Ezra said. "How did I not know about this?"

Aria shrugged, looking up at him. "It's a time I try not to think of too much?"

Aria stood and walked over to her bags from the mall and pulled out a black clutch. She walked back over to the table and dug out the necessary things she would need for the night; at least the things she **knew** she needed. She stuffed them into the clutch.

Adriana looked down at her watch. "You should open that last present of yours. You two have to get going pretty quickly."

Aria looked up at the envelope resting on the table. She'd completely forgotten about it when she had opened the gift from all the girls. Ezra picked it up and handed it to her. She looked at him curiously for a moment before ripping open the seal of the envelope. She pulled out the tickets. Her jaw dropped. "W-we're going to see To Kill A Mockingbird?"

Ezra nodded. He looked over at the time on the microwave. "And Dre is right. We're going to miss the train if we don't go."

Aria pushed up out of her seat and grabbed her shoes from the pile of bags on the floor. She quickly put them on and then grabbed her sweater from the bags and removed the tags before removing the bathrobe and pulling on the sweater as well. Ezra stared at her for a long moment, taking in the sight of her in the dress.

"What?" She asked. "Do I look bad?" Ezra shook his head, forcing a large gulp down his throat. "Hardly."

"Toss me your keys," Spencer ordered. "I'll get your car and your things back to your place."

Aria reached into her clutch and pulled out her keys. She tossed them over to Adriana. "My purse is over there, too." "Don't worry," Spencer insisted. "I'll get it."

Aria and Ezra proceeded to share goodbyes with everyone and then headed out of Spencer's house. Ezra gripped Aria's forearm with a moderate tightness as they walked across the gravel driveway so that she didn't fall, and walked her around the car. He opened the door for her and then closed it once she'd gotten inside, and then walked around the car and got into the driver's seat.

He started up the car and then pulled out of the driveway and they headed off towards the train station.

"So how was your day?" Aria asked curiously.

Ezra shrugged, slipping his fingers between hers as they drove. "Slept late, got the tickets and finished planning the rest of the night." "So we _are_ having dinner after this?" Aria asked.

Ezra looked over at her and smirked. "You're just going to have to wait and see."

"Okay, I **demand** dinner after this," Aria said.

Ezra just laughed as they continued driving.

They pulled into the train station a few moments later. Ezra parked and then they both got out of the car and headed into the station, hand in hand. Ezra purchased two tickets for the next train to Philadelphia and they made a mad dash across the station. A few minutes later, they were settled inside one of the train cars, waiting for it to take off.

"Did you have fun with your friends today?" Ezra asked her.

Aria nodded, brushing her thumb over the back of his hand in slow circles. "I did. They were great. I'm glad Adriana was with us." Conversation dwindled as the train raced towards Philadelphia, and they filled up the silence by making up for the lack of time they'd had together in the previous twenty-four hours by engaging in a war of tonsil hockey. They only broke apart when the train came to a stop and announced they were at the station in Philadelphia.

Once they were out of the train and then out of the station, Ezra hailed a cab for them and they headed towards the playhouse. Yet again the ride was silent, only filled up by the static and music that came from the radio, and the occasional kiss shared between them.

They arrived at the playhouse with little more than ten minutes to show time, and headed straight for their seats. The room was already quite full, and a few Hollis students spotted Ezra and waved to him as they took their seats. Regardless, he was only watching the gleeful look on Aria's face when the lights finally dimmed down, noting the start of the show….

_-  
>I really wanna remember this night<br>__You know my words never came out right  
>- <em>

Two hours later, Ezra stood outside of the women's bathroom, bouncing his leg impatiently. The show had ended at nine fourty, and the last train was set to leave at nine fifty-five. If they wanted to make it, they'd have to run the eight blocks to the station. The luck of catching a cab seemed unlikely.

As he stood there, his phone rang in his pocket.

"_I promise we are never going down_

_We'll never go, we'll never go_

_We will never go down-" _

Ezra pulled his phone out of his pocket. He opened the new text message. It revealed a mess of rose petals covering most of the sitting room floor, along with candles everywhere, that had yet to be lit.

"_Lighting candles now. Good?" -Hardy_

Ezra typed out an affirmative reply and then stuffed his phone into his pocket as Aria came out of the bathroom. She had her shoes in her hands.

"_Never_ wearing these again," she said as she took Ezra's hand.

"Good, because we're going to have to rush to catch that train."

They walked out of the playhouse and were met with an onslaught of gusting winds and rain. Aria shuddered; her sweater didn't do much to keep her warm.

Ezra slipped his suit jacket off and took her shoes so that she could slip her arms into it before he grabbed her hand, and the two of them made a run for it. Aria insisted on ducking into a wallgreens on the next block, where she ran into the first aisle and snatched a pair of boot slippers and tossed a ten dollar bill on the counter along with the price tag. Once the cashier had rung the up, she dashed back out of store. The slippers didn't actually do much in the ways of stopping her feet from getting wet, but they helped with the cobblestones and kept her from stepping on anything sharp.

As they ran into the train station a few minutes later, Ezra had to grab Aria by both arms to keep her from falling on her butt. She pulled off the boots and walked over to a trash and wrung them out as best she could before Ezra walked over to her and pulled her through the double doors that led out to the trains. They just barely made it to the train as the conductor was getting ready close the doors.

Ezra was persistent though. He pounded on the doors and begged that they be let in. The conductor only gave them an exasperated look before letting them on. They took the first available seats, and Aria sat breathlessly in Ezra's lap as she shivered from the cold of the rain. He brushed her wet hair out of her face and nuzzled her neck.

"I really hope that rain hasn't hit Rosewood yet," she murmured as they sat there. Ezra ran his hands up and down her legs and back, doing his best to warm her, though it wasn't very effective. His clothes were pretty much as soaked through as Aria's.

"Did you enjoy the play?" He asked her.

Aria nodded, brushing her fingers through his soaked hair. All product washed out, the curls were going mad, causing his hair to hang all over the place. "It was great. I'm glad we went."

When they reached the Rosewood station, most of the lights were off. They walked through the building and headed out towards the parking structure. The rain wasn't as bad, and they didn't have to walk nearly as far to get to Ezra's car.

Once they were inside of it and he had the car started, he turned on the heat full blast. The drive was quiet as their teeth chattered from their cold, wet clothes. It seemed they were only finally warming up, when he pulled up into the parking space outside their apartment. Aria released her seatbelt as she looked up at one of the windows outside of the apartment. "Someone left a light on?" Ezra kept his face emotionless as they both got out of the car. They both charged up to the door, and he flipped hastily through his keys until he found the right one. He unlocked the door and then pushed it open and gently pushed Aria in the small apartment in front of him. She ran her hands up and down her upper arms as she looked around.

Candles were strewn everywhere, lit and flickering back and forth, leading from the doorway all the way around the sitting room and towards the bedroom.

"Ezra…" He shut the door behind him and kicked his shoes off. "We can enjoy this in a few minutes. Shower?" Aria nodded, pulling his coat and her sweater off at the same time. They both walked towards the bathroom. By the time they were actually standing inside the bathroom and the shower was running, Ezra had already stripped completely. Aria was still fussing with the pins in her hair and still had her dress on.

Ezra pulled the zipper on her dress down and kissed her left shoulder as she pulled several more pins out of her hair.

"Stop," he told her softly. "I'll get the pins. You get out of these clothes before you catch your death."

Aria sighed and set a handful of bobby pins on the counter before she pulled her dress off her shoulders and let it slump to the ground. She then reached behind herself and unclasped the bra and then let that fall as well. She finally pushed her panties and tights off her hips as Ezra was unclasping both of her necklaces.

"How'd you do that so fast," she asked, looking at him in the mirror. She pulled her bracelet off and sat it down on the vanity as Ezra placed the necklaces there.

"Because I can see all of them," he told her. He pushed her gently towards the shower, and followed after her. Once they were under the spray, Aria snuggled against him and rested her head against his chest. Neither of them necessarily needed to actually wash up, so instead they stood under the spray of the water for a while.

When Ezra was warm enough, he stepped out of the shower and went in search of pajamas for the both of them. Aria waited until he had returned with clothes for her to get out. He passed off used towel to her and then stepped out of the bathroom. Aria dried herself off and then pulled on the booty shorts that he'd brought in for her. They were black and lacy. He had also brought her one of his shirts. From what she could tell, it was a fake vintage shirt for a baseball team.

She opened up the door and walked out into the sitting room. Ezra was settling plates on the coffee table for them. Aria spotted her dress draped over the back of one of the chairs at the table.

She walked over to the couch and sat down next to him. Ezra handed her a plate. It was filled with egg rolls and dirty rice from their favorite Chinese restaurant. Aria picked up an egg roll and bit into it. She smiled as she chewed it.

"This is good. Thank you."

He smiled at her as he reached a hand up to brush her hair out of her face. He pushed it behind her ear. "I'm glad you had a good day," he told her.

Aria finished her egg rolls and then ate some of her rice before she ultimately set her plate aside. Ezra did as well and then stood and walked into the bedroom. He returned a few moments later with a small wrapped box and sat down next to Aria. He handed it to her.

She looked up at him, confused. "I thought- I thought the play…" "It was supposed to be," he confessed. "But somehow it just felt cheep, taking free tickets from Hardy. After I thought about it, it occurred to me that you might like this more." Aria looked down at the box and unwrapped it. Her stomach churned nervously. Adriana said there wouldn't be a proposal, so what exactly had he gotten her?

She pulled the last of the wrapping paper off, and then opened the small jewelry box. Inside the small hole that held it in place, rested a ring. It was silver and plain. Aria looked up at him with her mouth slightly agape.

"Ezra…" He shook his head, pulling the ring from the confines of the small box. "It's not a proposal," he promised. "It's a promise, that regardless of what happens, I'm never going to leave you, or make you feel that you don't have me to reach out to. I know all of this has been tough for you these last few weeks, and I want you to know that you're not alone. I'm always here." Aria's features softened, and she smiled at him. She let him slip the ring on her middle finger and then she climbed into his lap and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pushed his tongue into her mouth, brushing his tongue over her mouth teasingly.

After a few minutes, they parted, and Aria moved off of his lap, though only so she could lie down. She rested her head on his legs, and they sat in silence for a while, enjoying the ambiance of the room. Ezra brushed his fingers gently through her hair.

"Are you tired?" He asked after a while.

Aria pushed herself up off the couch. "No, but I wouldn't mind moving to the bedroom." Ezra nodded, pushing her hair out of her face again. "I'll get this cleaned up and then meet you in there." He kissed her forehead and then pushed up off the couch and grabbed the plates off the coffee table and walked them into the kitchen while Aria went into the bedroom.

Thanks to hardwood flooring, he was able to sweep up most of the flower petals, though he left them in a bowl of water incase Aria wanted to keep one and have it pressed. He only bothered blowing out the candles that were bigger than the hundred or so tiny inch-thick ones scattered about the room. More than half of them had already died from the paraffin wax melting and leaving nothing to hold a flame. The few that were still were still flickering were struggling at best to stay lit.

He grabbed just one, and carried it into the bedroom with him, where Aria was fussing with her iPod while she hovered in front of its base. He walked around to his side of the bed and settled the candle there.

"Having an issue?" He asked.

Aria shrugged. "Just looking for a song…Found it! Finally!" She clicked on it and then settled it on her base and set the volume to a moderate volume so that it wasn't loud, but not too soft to be heard either.

Ezra furrowed his brow at her as the song played.

"_Is this the whole picture?  
><em>_Or is it just the start?  
>Is this the way you love me?<br>You're capturing my heart…"_

"Mood music?" He asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Mood _lighting_," she asked, referring to the candle.

He chuckled as she slipped into the blankets next to him and pulled her over so that she was resting in the middle of the bed next to him. They greeted each other with an open-mouthed kiss. Ezra bit down gently on Aria's bottom lip as he slipped his hand under the shirt she was wearing and brushed his fingers across her back. Aria cupped her hand around his cheek and pressed her body up against his, wrapping one of her legs over his.

Ezra hungrily pushed her shirt up her body until he had it all the way up to under arms. Aria detached her lips from his long enough to lift her arms and roll onto him, straddling his hips. She pulled him up as the shirt was tossed aside, and pulled the t-shirt he was wearing off of him as well.

Ezra rolled them back over and pinned Aria down against the bed with a gentle grip on her wrists as his eyes took in every inch of her skin. Each time they had made love before, he had taken the time _after_ to notice how beautiful she was, but never like this.

Suddenly a vulnerability fired up inside Aria and she gulped, feeling like she was under a microscope. She gulped as she watched him. After a few minutes, Ezra looked up at her and came up closer to her face, brushing his pelvis against hers. "Gorgeous."

He slipped his tongue into her mouth as he kissed her, only break away a few moments later. He trailed kisses down her neck to the valley between her breasts, and even further down nibbling near her navel as he reached it. He finally released her arms as he brought his hands down to her hips. His fingers curled inside of the waistband of her panties, and he gently pulled them down. He pushed up onto his knees as Aria pulled her waist up, and then her legs. Ezra tossed them carelessly over his shoulder after they were removed from her body and laid back down on the bed. Aria shuddered. They had never done this before.

He gripped her hips and rubbed gentle circles around them as he placed kisses along her pelvic bone. He trailed them down to her vaginal lips and then curiously slipped his tongue inside, brushing it up against Aria's clitoris.

She convulsed and gripped the bed sheets in both of her hands as she let out a quick, heavy breath.

"Something wrong," Ezra teased huskily as he looked up at her.

Aria looked down at him. "N-no. Do it again."

He smiled and leaned his head back down. He pushed his tongue back into her and this time took her clitoris into his mouth and sucked on it gently.

Aria screamed, rising her hips up off the bed against him. Ezra moved one of his hands off her hips and moved it down under him. He slipped two fingers inside of her and thrust them upwards, causing Aria to yelp out a slew of curse words. Within minutes, her hands were gripping the back of his head as she struggled to meet the thrusts of his fingers.

Ezra could tell she was getting close, so he removed his fingers from inside of her and moved up off the bed to remove his pants and boxers.

Not willing to wait, Aria moved one of her hands down to her folds and finished the job.

Ezra stared at her with a slightly insulted look as his clothes hit the floor. "That wasn't very fair."

Aria looked up at him as her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. "Not very fair?"

He shook his head.

Aria yanked him down onto the bed and made sure he was flat on his back with his own arms pinned down. "I'll show you not very fair." She leaned down and kissed him before leading her own trail of kisses down his chest and stomach until she reached his semi-erect penis. She wrapped her hand around it and began to stroke it as she leaned down and brushed her tongue over the tip. Ezra grunted. A moment later, she took his entire length into her mouth and then bobbed her head up and down as she brushed her tongue around him. She used her hand to massage his balls, while her other hand was between her folds, stroking her clitoris.

"Fuck, Aria!" Watching her suck on him while she fingered herself was too much for him to handle. Once he was fully engorged, he pulled her head up off of him and grabbed a condom from the nightstand drawer and applied it. He yanked her up to him and grabbed her hips, centering her over him.

They stared at each other for more than a minute, unmoving as they sat there. Aria reached a hand up and brushed it down his cheek. She rested her head against his as she finally lowered down onto him. They both exhaled shaky breaths and then Ezra moved one hand to her head and the other to the base of her back as he turned them over into missionary. He thrust languidly in and out of her as she tangled her legs within his and rubbed her hands up and down his back while Ezra kept his hands on her hips.

Their lovemaking was slow, and, probably for the first time, unrushed. Eventually, Aria tangled her fingers into Ezra's hair, and argued for dominance with his tongue as he slowly started to pick up speed. Aria squirmed beneath him, and he could feel her tightening around him. She reached her climax before he did, digging her fingers into his scalp as her walls clamed down on him and pulled him back inside of her. That was enough for him, and he thrust into her several more times before he reached his own orgasm.

Once Aria had her bearings, he slowly removed himself from her and grabbed a tissue off the nightstand. He wrapped the used condom in it and then tossed it into the small trash under the bedside table and blew out the candle.

He settled back on the bed just as Aria was turning off her iPod base. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled his face in the side of her neck, placing gentle kisses along her jaw line and down to her collar bone.

"I love you, Aria. More than anything else in this world."

Aria looked over her shoulder at him. Their eyes told more to each other than even words could convey. She pulled his lips down to hers and kissed him quickly.

"And I love you, Ezra Fitz. More than I'll ever love anything else, ever."


	15. I Don't Care If We Suddenly Find

**A/N: I keep getting requests for an update. And you guys know I aim to please. I never expected this story would be so well received. Your reviews make me so happy, and it means so much to me!**

**Anyhow….enjoy! :)**

_Chapter 14_

_I Don't Care If We Suddenly Find Ourselves In Siberia_

"_Ahchoo!" _

Aria groaned as she pushed up off the bed, surprised by the white tissue that seemed to have found its way to the top of her face. She pulled it off her face as she coughed to clear her throat. Ezra was sitting nearby, dressed in sweats with the hood pulled up. As she sat up, he covered his mouth with a tissue and began coughing.

"What time is it?"

Ezra blew his nose and then tossed away the tissue and looked over at the clock behind her. "7:30." Aria picked up another one of the stray tissues, and then suddenly brought it up to her face as she sneezed. Ezra moved off the bed and then slipped to the floor in a coughing fit. He pushed up from the floor when he managed to take in a deep enough breath and then walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt. He closed the drawer he was digging in, and then opened another and pulled out a pair of panties.

"This is what we get for running in the rain last night," Ezra said. His voice was raw from coughing.

Aria shook her head, grabbing the shirt. She pulled it over her head and then got off the bed and grabbed the panties and stepped into them. "You can't get sick from being out in the rain or the snow. You get sick from coming in contact with germs. Could've caught it from touching something at the playhouse or on the train or at one of the stations…"

Ezra groaned and frowned. "Can I get you anything?"

Aria shook her head, pulling on the pajama pants. She crawled back onto the bed and curled up under the blankets. "Just come lay here with me."

Ezra chuckled. "I'm going to get some ginger-ale first."

Aria looked at him quizzically. "How long have you been awake?"

"Since 2:30 this morning. I got three hours of sleep. Couldn't stop coughing."

Aria gaped at him. "How are you still awake?"

Ezra laughed. "Seriously? I used to pull all-nighters and then go to class _all_ day. Three hours of sleep is heaven compared to that."

He walked out of the room and crossed over to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle he'd bought a few hours earlier. When he hadn't been able to get back to sleep, he'd gone out and stocked up on tissue, soup, and plenty of juice and ginger ale.

He filled a glass with the soda and then rubbed his eyes as he walked back towards the bedroom. Aria was flipping through a magazine. Ezra walked over to her and settled the glass of ginger ale on the bedside table before slipping beneath the blankets.

"Do you remember that day at your apartment?" Aria asked, referring to when he had gotten the flu after Christmas.

Ezra raised an eyebrow at her as she settled the magazine down on the table and moved over towards him, snuggling into the warmth radiating from his body.

"The day I almost threw up on you, you mean? After Christmas?"

Aria chuckled. "Yeah." She coughed a moment later. "I was just remembering how you were telling me all about Italy that day, and how I had wished so much that we could go out and be together in the open. I had this perfect idea in my head of how everything could be, and I never really considered that maybe I wasn't looking at it from every view."

"You mean because of your parents?" Ezra asked.

Aria shrugged. She leaned back and looked up at him. "You know, I keep psyching myself up to the idea that every day is going to be the last time I let it affect me that they won't talk to me, or give me the time of day. I keep telling myself that I need to stop waiting on the world to suddenly shift into my focus, but I'm not actually doing anything."

Ezra furrowed his brow and the corners of his mouth became tight. "You know, I never expected you to change over night. I **do** realize it has only been three weeks since we told your parents, but it _is_ hard to watch you hurt because of them. Your parent should be the last people on this planet hurting you."

_-  
>One foot on the bus 'bout half past nine<br>__I knew that you were leaving this time  
>- <em>

As with most things, Monday morning eventually came, and even with nasty colds, Ezra and Aria both dragged them off to their respective educational buildings. They both had long days ahead of them. Aria had to work for two hours after school and Ezra was going to be at Hollis for most of the afternoon because of the class he was doing with Byron.

She brought a tissue up to her mouth as she sneezed, walking into Ella's classroom. Spencer was behind her, carrying a tray of coffee cups. She followed Aria as she walked over to her desk and sat down.

"So, wait, you got sick from what again?"

Aria chuckled as she blew her nose. She bunched up the tissue when she was finished with it and then grabbed sanitizer from her bag and squeezed it onto her hands.

"We had to run in that rain storm, but my heels were killing me, so I took them off. We stopped in Walgreens so I could get some different shoes, and I think someone must've been in there earlier with a cold."

"So you were sick on your birthday?" Spencer asked.

Aria shook her head. "No, I woke up the next morning sneezing and coughing. Poor Ezra didn't barely get any sleep at all though. I told him he was nuts for getting up and going to work today."

Spencer crossed one of her legs over the other and played with the zipper on her left thigh-high boot. "Didn't he almost _pass out_ at work the last time he went in sick?"

Aria thought back as she popped a cough drop into her mouth. Spencer was right. The day they both had gone home sick after Christmas, he had almost passed out in his first period class, and some of the faculty had tried to convince him to leave then. He had insisted on sticking around because of her.

"Yeah," she finally said. "And he was stupid, because I said I was staying, so he refused to go home. I guess he was afraid of me getting sick and not being able to be there to help."

"Its not like he could've done much, unless it happened right in front of him," Spencer said.

Aria shrugged. "It's not like he _listens_ very well, anyway. That day that I stayed with him, when you covered for me, he was so insistent that he was gonna be okay, and then he threw up on everything but me."

"Wait, was that when he almost passed out in the shower?" Spencer asked.

Aria nodded. She took a coffee from Spencer finally and took a long drink from it. The heat was comforting on her scratchy throat. She swallowed the thick liquid and then settled the cup on the desk. She giggled softly.

"Yeah, he um, he got _really_ dizzy, and then he said he started seeing black spots, and the only thing that helped was laying down in the tub. I went in cause he knocked down a bottle of shampoo and almost hurt himself."

Spencer laughed and raised her eyebrows. "What's he look like shirtless?"

Aria narrowed her eyes at Spencer and then laughed before shaking her head. She picked up her phone off her desk and scrolled through the photos until she found one from the day before. They were curled up in the bed, and Ezra's head was nuzzled under hers. He had been necking her while she squirmed and giggled, trying to take a decent photo with her phone.

She passed the phone over to Spencer. Spencer whistled.

"_Dayum_. Where can I order one of these?"

Aria laughed, taking her phone back. "You say that like Toby isn't built out of stone and marble."

Hanna walked through the doorway at the back of the classroom. She chimed into the conversation, having heard what Aria and Spencer were saying.

"You saw Fitzy naked?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "_Please._ She saw a picture of him shirtless, laying on his side. You two complain like your own boyfriends don't look like cheese graters."

"Yeah, but they're **our** age," Hanna whined as she walked over to them. She sat down across from Aria. Aria felt inadequate next to her. Hanna was dressed in yet another perfect outfit, with her hair up in a bun, and a long-sleeved black shirt with jeans and a pair of black wedges. Aria had settled on wearing a comfortable pair of black sweatpants and a blue t-shirt from Iceland, along with the sweater she'd worn on her birthday.

"There's just something so _**hot**_ about all the boundaries of your relationship," Spencer said in a taunting whisper. "I'd do it, I swear I would. Even just once."

Aria chuckled softly. "I'd do it over and over again. As long as it was him."

"Ew," Hanna laughed. "Yuck, yuck, yuck."

Aria looked over at her and raised her eyebrows. "So you wouldn't bend over backwards and do everything possible to give Caleb a place to stay all over again?"

"I never said that," Hanna replied.

Aria rolled her eyes. "Not _every_ thing I say to you is meant as a sexual innuendo, Han."

Ella walked into the classroom a few moments later and looked up at them. "Well, ladies, you certainly are prompt these days aren't you?"

Aria kept her attention on her phone as she scrolled through the pictures taken over the weekend. Spencer murmured something of an apology while Ella started emptying out her bag onto the teachers desk.

"_So lift it up, like a banner:  
>hold it up, over me<br>__If this war is never ending,  
><em>_I'll take this love down with me…"_

Hanna furrowed her brow at Aria. "Who is _that_?"

"New ringtone," Aria replied, pushing buttons on her phone. "I got bored last night."

Ella walked over to the girls with a handful of tests and passed each of theirs back to them. Aria settled her phone on the desk and looked at the paper.

_A. Glad to see you still know the material.  
><em>_-Mom_

Aria gulped, staring at the paper in her hands. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but yet the words weren't there. What _could_ she say? Maybe Ella had just written mom because it had come flowing out when she was grading.

She took a deep breath and settled the paper back on her desk before she picked up her phone again.

"_Just sneezed into a brand new cup of coffee.  
><em>_Yuck much?"  
><em>_-Ezra_

Aria chuckled, typing in a reply.

"_That's better than the mixture of  
><em>_Plain cough drops and mocha latte."  
><em>_-Aria_

She turned her head suddenly into the crook of her elbow as she sneezed. She actually wanted to be able to enjoy her only source of caffeine until at least lunch. Hanna grimaced at her as she slowly lifted her head back up, and she offered Aria a tissue. Aria took it and wiped away the corners of her mouth before she blew her nose and then got up and walked over to the trash. She tossed the tissue away and turned to walk back to her desk. Before she could actually get anywhere, though, she fell into a coughing fit. She hunched forward as she brought her hand up to her mouth, trying to get in a decent breath.

Ella walked up to her and handed her a tissue, tentatively rubbing gentle circles in her back. "Just try to breathe."

Spencer and Hanna walked up a moment later, and when Aria was able to get in a decent breath, she spit the phlegm she'd coughed up into the tissue Ella had given her, and then threw it away. Spencer handed Aria her cup of coffee and a cough drop.

Aria took a long drink of her latte, grateful for the warm liquid as it slid down her throat.

"You okay?" Spencer asked.

Aria nodded, once she had swallowed the liquid. "I think."

Spencer looked down at Aria's hand. "New ring? You haven't worn that one before." Aria looked down at the ring Ezra had gotten her for her birthday. "Yeah, it was a present."

"Looks like a wedding band," Hanna said.

Aria and Spencer gaped at her.

"What?" Hanna squealed. "It does!" Aria looked over her shoulder at Ella, who was clearly trying not to show any interest in their conversation.

"Well its _not_," Aria insisted. "It was just a present. Just like the necklaces and everything else I got was _just_ presents."

"Yeah," Spencer frowned, fingering one of the necklaces Aria was wearing. "I think Adriana one-upped me."

Aria shook her head, pulling Spencer's hand down away from her neck. "It's just a gift." She walked back towards her desk and picked up her phone as it buzzed on top of it, starting to play the song again.

"Can't you two manage twenty-four hours without each other?"

Aria looked over at Hanna. "Was your phone off this weekend? At _all_?"

Hanna shrugged, looking around the room as if she was completely innocent. "That's different. I don't get to-" Aria glared at her. "Caleb lived in your basement for _weeks_!"

"Alright, Ladies!" Ella chimed in. "Lets take our seats."

Aria raised an eyebrow at Hanna as she crossed one of her legs under her. Hanna just shook her head and dug into her bag to pull out her notebook.

The classroom slowly began to fill with more students over the next few minutes, and Emily eventually walked in, talking with one of the other girls on the swim team. She took her seat next to Aria's and they chatted for a few minutes before class officially started.

The day passed by lazily. There was very little that Aria kept much interest in, since school was going to be finished at the end of the month. Since it was officially May, all of the teachers were officially putting aside what they had been teaching for the last four months, and starting review. Aria could see that her mother was struggling with pulling together some of what she was supposed to be teaching, since Ezra had been at Rosewood until mid-way through second semester.

By the end of the day, every student had a stack of books and papers to review, read, and turn in over the next several weeks. The only class that hadn't changed was her geometry class, which wouldn't start reviewing until the final week before exams.

To top it all off, Spencer had officially distributed study guides to each of the girls. While Aria thought it was sweet that Spencer wanted to make sure they all did well on their tests, she tended to wonder if Spencer wasn't going a bit overboard. Then again, Aria had wondered that every year since they had met.

She tossed her bags into the back of her car, and checked to make sure all of her things were actually in her bags before she got out of the back seat and closed the door behind her. She moved to the driver's side door and pulled it open.

As she moved to get into the car, her attention was pulled behind her, where her name was being called. She spun around to see Spencer walking over to her.

Spencer walked up to her with her arms crossed. "Hey, do you mind me coming over and spending the evening by you and Ezra?" She looked over her shoulder and then back at Aria. "I don't want to go home." "Sure," Aria said. "I'll be done at five thirty. Can you find some place to hang out until then?" Spencer shrugged, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment. "Would it be okay if I came over by your work and studied while you worked?"

Aria shook her head. "That's fine. I'll see you there."

_-  
>I'm imagining the words you said when last I saw your mouth<br>__Yes, I'm walking on a tightrope wire  
>- <em>

Aria's afternoon at work passed by smoothly. Her tips weren't great, but she understood the customers lack of giving up so much money. On top of her being sick, her attitude wasn't as up to par as it normally, mostly because she didn't feel well. She was also probably devoting too much attention to Spencer and trying to find out why she was upset.

Eventually, they found themselves back at the apartment, and Aria was poured over her textbooks at the desk in the spare bedroom while Spencer was lying down on the bed. Try as she might, Aria couldn't seem to get anything out of Spencer about why she was upset. She understood that Spencer didn't really feel like she could go to Toby's place to hide out, but Aria was nervous about Spencer asking to stay the night. That wasn't something she had really ever discussed with Ezra. Furthermore, if Spencer's parents ever found out that she was there, they'd probably never let them be friends again.

Aria flipped the packet shut that her mother had given out for the first week of review and settled it on top of one of her textbooks. She spun around in her seat, grabbing a cup of tea that she had sitting on the desk as she did. She brought it to her lips and took a sip out of it as she watched Spencer scribble things on one of her study guides.

"Spence."

Spencer looked up at Aria as she rolled her bottom lip between her thumb and forefinger of her left hand.

"Yeah?" Aria bit her bottom lip for a moment. "You know I love having you here and all to keep me company, but Ezra's going to be home soon. I've got to be able to tell him something."

Spencer shook her head. She dropped her pencil on top of the study guide she was working on and sat up on the bed. "It's really not that big of a deal." Aria crossed her arms. "If it's not that big of a deal, then why won't you go home?"

Spencer huffed, rolling her eyes. "I mean its…"

Aria pushed up out of her seat and held her mug in one hand while she walked over to the bed. She sat down next to Spencer and wrapped an arm around her.

"Hey. You **know** that whatever it is that's happened, you can **always** tell me."

Spencer sniffled as she looked up at Aria. "It's just the fighting with my dad is getting really bad. Last night, he shoved Toby out the door, and then when Toby was taking down the scaffolding from when he was working on the barn for Melissa, my dad shook the poles. Toby almost fell."

Aria frowned. She pulled Spencer closer to her and rubbed her hand up and down her friend's upper arm, comfortingly. "I'm sorry."

Spencer sniffed and wiped her hand under her eyes, wiping away her tears. "Its stupid, but I just… You were already dealing with so much with your parents and what they did to Ezra, but I don't want to go home, Aria." Arian nodded. "You don't have to go anywhere. I just…" She bit her tongue for a moment, considering the situation again. It didn't feel any better than it had just moments before. If anything, it felt worse, because she knew Spencer was having the same issues that she was with her own parents.

"I'm going to talk to Ezra," she said after a moment. "He'll be back soon, but if he's okay with it, then you can stay."

"Are you sure?" Spencer asked. "I really don't want to be a bother, but Hanna's already got Emily by her, and I-" Aria shook her head. "You're more than welcome to stay here. But if it's something that goes on more than a night or two-" Spencer shook her head. "I promise I'll figure out something after that."

With the situation resolved and Aria now understanding why Spencer was upset, the girls returned to their previous positions and went back to working on their schoolwork. The room was silent for a while, but eventually Aria grew bored of working on school work, and she decided to set it aside. She loaded up her computer and then proceeded to load her internet browser as well.

Set to automatic loading, her instant messenger loaded as well. She was surprised to see the window popping up, and even more so to see it show her as online and available a moment later. Aria hadn't barely touched her computer since leaving her parents, and when she had, she never had the time to send messages to anyone. Even so, she could see that it didn't really stop other people from living the life or a normal teenager. Bullying and all.

She had dozens of offline messages. As much as the logical part of her was screaming to just close the small boxes, she couldn't stop herself from reading some of them.

**GRy.93: what a slut. You must think you're just the bees knees.  
><strong>**Supergirl224: what does he pay you to fuck him?  
><strong>**Zgirl101: hope you've stocked up on condoms.**

If the messages from the girls were bad, the ones from the boys were worse.

**Nk93: when's the baby due? Hope someone at least called the cops on him.  
><strong>**Mathman2: he must have a huge dick. Do you go down on him?  
><strong>**Superman223: We can totally hook up if you want, no questions asked. I mean, you're pregnant anyway, right?**

Aria let out a shaky breath and then deleted the messages on her screen before she turned her attention back to her internet browser. As he always did, she loaded up her Hollis page on one screen before opening another and loading up her socialpage.

She was automatically logged in, which only served to make the abuse that had filled up her page in the last few weeks even worse.

"Aria, what're you doing?" Aria jumped. Spencer's voice forced her to quit reading the slanderous and libellant comments. Spencer walked over to her, resting her hand on the back of the chair. She leaned down and looked at the comments and then shook her head.

"Why would people say these things?"

Aria pushed the chair back and walked out of the room. Spencer stared at the screen for a few long minutes before she walked out of the room. She looked back and forth and then spotted the front door open.

"Aria?"

Aria turned around and looked up at Spencer. She was sitting on the grass just outside the apartment.

"Why is it that people have to be so cruel? Judging things they don't understand?"

Spencer frowned. She sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around her knees. "If I knew, I swear I'd tell you."

Aria pulled up a thick blade of grass and ran her fingers over it. "I'm just so sick of all this crap. I want this school year to be over already. I want A to go away, and everything to just…" Aria shook her head as she looked up at Spencer. "Stop."

"Me too," Spencer said honestly.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with the wind as the only thing that brought noise. Every now and then Aria sneezed or coughed, but neither of them moved.

"Did I miss something?"

Aria looked up from where she was sitting. Ezra was getting out of his car. He had his bag in one of his hands with his hand wrapped around the handle.

Aria pushed up from her spot on the ground and walked over to him. The smirk on Ezra's face dropped as she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. He hugged her back, rubbing his hands up and down her back.

"What's wrong?" Aria shook her head as she settled back onto her feet. "It doesn't matter."

Ezra stared at her curiously for a few moments before he followed her to the doorway. Spencer had already stood up.

"You don't mind if Spencer's here, right?" Aria murmured.

Ezra shook his head. He followed Aria inside the apartment and then dropped his bag into one of the chairs at the table.

"Have you eaten yet?" He asked.

Aria shook her head. She sat down in the spare chair at the table. "I had a cup of broth after work, but that was it."

"You up for pizza? I'm sick of soup."

Aria chuckled, and nodded. "Pizza's fine. But, can I talk to you for a second?"

Ezra stepped out of the kitchen, where he'd been grabbing takeout menus. "Sure. What's up?" "I'm gonna call Toby," Spencer said suddenly. She pulled her phone from her pocket and then walked out of the apartment.

Ezra settled the stack of menus on the table and then moved his bag out of the chair and sat down across from Aria. "What's going on? You two are all skittish."

Aria wrapped her hands around her calves as she crossed her legs on the chair. "What would you think of Spencer staying here? Just for a night…or two."

Ezra furrowed his brow and gave her a perplexed look as he settled his phone on the table. "I don't want to say no, but what's going on?"

Aria shook her head. "I really don't know, to be honest. All I know is that something is going on with her family and she doesn't feel safe there. She just needs some time."

Ezra reached across the table and gripped her hand in his. "I just don't want to see you lose friends because of their parents thinking something is going on here that isn't."

Aria nodded. "If it's not okay-" Ezra shook his head at her. "I'm not saying that. I just want you and Spencer to be sure about this. You guys are both in very tough situations right now."

_-  
>Half of my heart's got a grip on this situation<br>__Half of my heart takes time  
>- <em>

Aria slipped underneath the blankets in the bed next to Ezra. He'd just spent the better half of the last half hour trying to get a humidifier to work while she had been talking to Spencer in the spare bedroom.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Aria asked.

Ezra pushed the bedroom door shut and then walked over to the bed and got into it next to her. "I'm fine with it as long as its temporary. It seems like _you're_ the one who's having second thoughts."

Aria had a magazine in her hands, and she dropped it into her lap. "I just don't want to see Spencer get hurt from her parents like I have been. I know she loves Toby, but…" Aria shrugged.

Ezra grabbed the magazine out of her lap and moved it onto the table before pulling her gently into his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Whatever is meant to happen, will. You don't have to blame yourself for things you can't control."

Aria chuckled, snuggling up against him. "Things I can't control. Like how my parents can't decide one day from the next if they like me or not?"

Ezra leaned back far enough that he could see her face. He looked down at her.

"Why? What happened today?"

Aria took a deep breath and her bottom lip pushed out slightly in a pout. "It was weird, to be honest. I was throwing away a tissue, and then I started coughing and my mom was all concerned for a minute. And then, when I got my test back from Friday, she signed it with 'mom'. Every paper I've handed in and gotten back in the last few weeks has always been signed as Mrs. Montgomery. I mean…has my dad been any different?"

She looked up at him, and Ezra had the same perplexed look on his face that he'd had earlier that day.

"Not really. I mean, I try not to take anything that he does too seriously or to heart, because he's like, bipolar or something. One minute he wants to know how you are, and the next, he doesn't want to know a thing."

Aria dropped her head back against the pillows and sighed heavily. "Why can't they just pick one side or the other?"

Ezra tilted his head towards her and smiled. "Because they're your parents."

Aria scowled, and turned over in the blankets. She rested her head against his chest. "Well then they need to decide already. They're tearing my life apart enough as it is."

Ezra brushed his fingers through her hair while they laid there. "Lets just not think about it." "As compared to what?" Aria asked.

Ezra shrugged his shoulders. "New York this weekend. Are you up for it? I know we said we'd talk about it-"

Aria shook her head, leaning back to look up at him again. "I'd love to. Anything just to get away from all the drama and stupidity in this town for three days. As long as you don't mind leaving until seven on Friday."

Ezra nodded. "That's right. The expo?"

"Well, technically the expo is all week. Friday is a battle of the bands, but it's just going to be me and a guitar. Praying I don't get booed off stage by all the people who hate me now."

Ezra chuckled. "I'll be there cheering for you. Just look for me."

Aria smiled up at him. Ezra cupped her head in his hand and kissed her forehead.

"And then we'll be off to seventy-two hours with Hardy and your sister," she giggled. "That should be fun."

Ezra wrinkled his nose as he laughed. "Sure, as long as my mother doesn't murder him."

Aria just laughed at him.


	16. In The Shadows of Tall Buildings

**A/N: I spoil you guys… (Posting this because I'm working on chapter 22.) Also, I need to put a reply here: **

**_Notinyourlifetimehoney: _I just made a master list of all the lyrics I've used in the story so far, and I'm going to post them on a separate page on my tumblr. If you go onto my main page here on fan fiction, it's linked as my homepage :). If you have tumblr, PM me with anything you can't find, and I'll send it your way :).**

**M-Rated implications ahead. You've been warned :).**

_Chapter 15_

_In The Shadows Of Tall Buildings_

Ezra slapped his hand down on the alarm clock as he untangled his arms from around Aria. They'd slept pretty soundly, except for one of them occasionally coughing. She was still snoring softly beside him, not having been awoken to the sound of the alarm.

He pushed up off the bed and grabbed his sweatpants from the floor. He snatched a Nirvana t-shirt from the floor and pulled it over his head before he walked out of the bedroom. He was still waking up, but he'd come to know the path to the coffeemaker in the kitchen like the back of his hand.

He picked up the pot off the heating base and furrowed his brow. There was a full, hot pot already made.

"Sorry. I've been up since five-thirty. I got thirsty."

Ezra jumped as he looked over at the walkway. Spencer was standing there, holding a cup of coffee. He grabbed a cup a moment later and filled it to the brim. Wordlessly, he added cream and sugar and then gulped down half the cup before he finally settled it on the counter.

"I'm sorry if I'm a bother," Spencer said. "I just didn't-"

Ezra shook his head. "I don't know what you're going through right now. I would never ask Aria to tell me things about her friends that I don't belong knowing. However, I don't want to see her lose her friends because your parents don't agree with what she's being forced to do right now. I'm sure they don't agree with her current choices."

"My parents aren't home most of the time," Spencer replied. "And I think they would have to discount half the choices they've made in the last few years in order to tell me that I couldn't be friends with Aria anymore."

Ezra nodded as he picked up his cup of coffee. "I don't understand the things you and Aria and the other girls have had to go through. My childhood was a breeze compared to what you four seem to have to put up with. Absent parents, death of a best friend…"

Spencer chuckled, taking a drink from her own cup of coffee. "Well Alison was a handful all on her own. She knew how to screw things around for each of us when she wanted things to go her way."

Ezra nodded. He looked over at the time on the stove clock and then settled his coffee cup on the counter. "I've got to get Aria up and jump in the shower."

"Actually, can I do it?" Spencer asked. "I kind of need to borrow some clothes."

Ezra nodded as he stepped past her. "I'll be in the shower."

Spencer finished off her cup of coffee and then got a new mug and filled a new one. She added creamer and sugar and then walked out of the kitchen, over to Ezra and Aria's room. She knocked twice and then walked in and placed the cup of coffee on the bedside table next to Aria.

"Wakey, wakey!" Spencer teased as she shook Aria.

Aria groaned, yanking the blankets tighter around her. "S'too early."

"Its almost seven," Spencer teased. "Your very hot boyfriend is in the shower. Naked."

Aria bolted up on the bed and glared at Spencer. Spencer just smirked at her.

"I made coffee," Spencer said. "And I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes."

Aria nodded. She pushed off the blankets to reveal a pair of carebear boy shorts and a black tank top.

"Really? Carebears?" Spencer laughed.

Aria slapped her shoulder lightly as she got off the bed and walked over to the dresser. "They're comfortable. Besides, we weren't exactly going to do anything with you sleeping in the next room. The last thing we need is to be teased about headboards hitting the wall."

"Ouu," Spencer uttered in a taunting manner. "You guys get that rough?"

"Oh good lord," Aria whined. "I don't question you about your and Toby's sex life."

Spencer laughed as Aria tossed a pair of breeches at Spencer and a long-sleeved thin white shirt.

"All my vests are in the closet," Aria said as she dug through the drawers.

"It's supposed to be _really_ nice out today," Spencer said as she pulled the closet door open. She shuffled some shirts around until she found one. She pulled it free.

"Really? A Taylor Swift t-shirt?" Spencer laughed.

Aria glared at her. "She's got good music. I think she's underrated."

"By her fans or the critics?" Spencer laughed sardonically.

Aria shook her head. "By **you**." She pulled on a navy blue lace bustier and then grabbed a pair of light blue jean hot shorts and pulled them on. She walked over to the closet next to Spencer and grabbed a shirt from Ezra's side of the closet. She pulled it off the hanger and then pulled it over her head without unbuttoning it. She unbuttoned her pants long enough to tuck the ends of the shirt into her pants.

"What's with you and the whole boyfriend wardrobe lately," Spencer asked. "Not that it's not hot, but you're _always _ in his clothes lately.

Aria popped the collar and turned her head into it, sniffing it. "Because my boyfriend is hot," she teased, repeating Spencer's words. "And so are his clothes. Plus, they fit. Now why don't we go get something to eat so that he can change once he's out of the shower."

She walked out of the bedroom, leaving the cup of coffee Spencer had brought her on the nightstand. Spencer followed her out of the room with her arms crossed.

"I need a cup of coffee," Aria murmured as she walked into the kitchen.

"I brought you one!" Spencer yelled.

Aria looked over her shoulder at Spencer, laughing. "Yeah, and you probably made it too. Which means I'd be shaking through the first three hours of school."

She picked up the percolator off the heating base and dumped the coffee into the sink before she started making a fresh pot.

Spencer shook her head At Aria, scowling at her. "Such amateurs. And to think you mainline caffeine like it should run in your bloodstream."

Aria laughed. "This coming from the girl whose parents probably don't know the meaning of sleep. You have two modes, Spence. Off and diesel." She settled the coffee pot back on the base and started the coffee maker again. "Cocoa Puffs or Trix?"

"Trix," Spencer replied.

Aria smiled, pulling a box out from a row. She opened a cupboard above her and pulled down two bowls. "Good choice. I'm gonna have some too."

Spencer walked over to the fridge and pulled out the milk. She walked back over to the counter as Aria settled a bowl of cereal aside for her. She poured another bowl and then let Spencer add the milk before grabbing each of them a spoon. Spencer returned the milk to the fridge, and then the two of them walked out into the sitting room and sat down on the couch with their breakfasts.

Aria grabbed the TV remote from the table and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels until she found the morning news.

The bathroom door opened a few moments later, and Ezra stepped out dressed in his bathrobe. Aria smiled at him while Spencer blushed and kept her eyes on the TV. He crossed the room, and a few moments later, the bedroom door shut.

Aria finished off her breakfast and then walked into the kitchen and deposited her empty bowl into the sink. She filled herself a new mug of coffee and then walked back out of the room and over to the bedroom. She opened the door and slipped inside.

Ezra was pulling on a pair of khaki shorts. He looked up at her.

"That's quite possibly the most awkward situation I've ever been in."

Aria took a drink of her coffee and then settled it on the dresser and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him, smiling, and leaned up to kiss him. She ran her fingers through his wet hair as Ezra looped his hands around her waist.

"Mmm," he groaned. "Quickies before work. Really gotta figure out a way to start fitting that into our morning schedules."

Aria cackled, dropping her arms from around his neck. She walked over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of stockings. She walked over to the bed and hopped onto it so that she could slip the stockings on.

Ezra walked over to the closet and pulled out a black button-down shirt. He grabbed a black t-shirt as well and tossed the button-down onto the bed.

"Boots, wedges or shoes," Aria murmured as she grabbed her cup of coffee from the dresser. "I'm feeling like boots again."

"Really," Ezra laughed. "I'm feeling like converse."

Aria shook her head at him as she walked past him and grabbed a pair of knee-high leather boots from the floor. She slipped her feet into them and then pulled the zipper up on each side. She turned around to face Ezra moment later. He grabbed her at the center of her shirt and pulled her towards him.

"Have I ever told you how hot I think you are in my clothes?"

Aria tipped her head to the side, shrugging as she smirked at him. "Not that I can think of. But Spencer's going to think we're in here doing _sinful_ things, and my friends tell enough jokes about us as it is."

She turned around to walk over to the door, but Ezra grabbed her by the hips and pulled her back against him, digging his hands into the pockets of her shorts.

"I expect payback for this later." He said huskily.

Aria tipped her head up at him and smiled. "Absolutely." She pulled his head down and kissed him quickly.

_-  
>Stay away from my trigger,<br>__I'm a loaded gun  
>- <em>

Aria shuffled things around on the table as she chewed on her pen. Study hall was quickly becoming comedy hour for most of her fellow classmates since review had started, but she was struggling just to cram in as much study time as she could.

Spencer pushed aside one of her textbooks and flipped open a notebook. She curled over the paper and began to write. Ella had assigned a three thousand word essay on the favourite book taught over the school year, and how it outwardly affected their life. Both Aria and Spencer had decided to do it on To Kill A Mockingbird; Spencer because of what had gone on with her family. In her own way, Aria was referencing it to the beginning of her and Ezra's relationship. Mostly she was just trying to hit all the points assigned, and try to gain some leeway with her mother at the same time.

"Hey Aria."

Aria looked up from her notebook. The teacher was out of the room, and half the class was chattering. Most of them were also looking at her.

"What?" she asked. She turned her attention back to her homework.

Thalia, a girl in the senior class, tossed a paper airplane at her head.

"When's the baby due?" The comment came from a guy in the senior class name Royston.

Aria looked up, frustrated, as the airplane fell on her paper. She moved it aside and looked up at Royston.

"Really? Pregnant? You guys are so original."

"Just don't pay any mind to them," Spencer murmured.

"This coming from the girl who cheated to win a Golden Orchid."

Spencer looked up. That comment had come from Gina Ryan, their groups most current enemy. She was like Jenna and Alison, but worse. Even worse than that, she seemed to enjoy screwing everyone over just to get her rocks off.

"Seriously!" Thalia laughed. "When's the baby due? When did Fitz knock you up?"

Aria tossed her pen down on her notebook.

"Ouu, the skinny little bitch is pissed," Gina laughed. "Real scary. No wonder she was always in his room whenever we were passing classes."

"Hey did you ever screw on his desk?" "What about his office?" "Oh! The principal's office?"

The questions flew at her so fast and with such a vulgar way, it made her want to vomit. She hated it; she hated all the bullying that she'd been forced to deal with lately.

"Way to show your immaturity, guys." Spencer said. "Nothing like proving you've _really_earned the right to drive cars and graduate from high school."

"Shut up, Hastings." Gina simpered. "You're screwing your so-called best friend's murderer."

Aria clamped her hand down on Spencer's arm as she moved to shoot up off of her stool. Spencer looked over at Aria and glared. Aria glared back at her and shook her head.

"Don't go there," she murmured.

Before anything else could be said, the teacher returned to the room and the other students returned to there homework. Spencer kicked Aria under the table.

"Ow!" She whispered loudly. "What the hell was that for?"

Spencer scowled at Aria. "What the hell did that mean, don't go there?"

Aria tilted her head towards Spencer. "You don't seriously want to start an argument in the middle of class with the bitch of the school, do you? Because it'll be _us_ that ends up in trouble. No one is going to think twice about pointing fingers at us, Spence! And I'm in enough hot water as it is. The last thing I need is to be sitting in detention because we decided to go rogue and fight the idiots with half a brain."

"I'm going to be _so _glad when this school year is over," Spencer whined.

"Me too," Aria muttered.

_-  
>I don't know who I am,<br>__Who I am without you  
>- <em>

"You're making me nuts, Dre!"

Ezra shoved the door open to his office, juggling a stack of textbooks along with his grading books and a few other things. He made it all the way over to the coffee table before he let some of them fall.

She slunk into the room behind him, dressed in a black lacy mini skirt and a bright pink t-shirt and walked over to him. She took some of the books from his hands and walked over to his desk, setting them down.

"C'mon, Ezra! That man is like an ogre! Nothing I do pleases him!" She whined.

Ezra laughed. He picked up the rest of the books and walked over to his desk. He settled them down and then started shoving some of them into one of the bookcases.

"You think _I _don't know he's an ogre? The man beat me up."

Adriana scowled at him. "C'mon, Ezra! I'll take a shitty grade if it's what I really deserve. Just please look over my work. I want to fight his grading, but I need to make sure its worth the fight first. I can't afford to screw this class up."

Ezra groaned. He looked over at her and sighed. "Fine. But I can only **read** them. If they seem unfairly graded, I'll talk to Professor Montgomery about giving you a better grade."

"Why not just call him by his real name?" Adriana said. "I mean you _are_ boning his daughter. Seems like you should be able to call him by his first name."

"You call your friends by their first name," Ezra replied. "The Montgomery's are _not_ my friends. They don't even give their daughter the time of day. Hell, they watched Aria split her chin the day before her birthday, and neither of her parents moved a muscle."

"So you don't say his first name out of respect? Or because you don't like him?"

Ezra shrugged, picking up another stack of books. He shoved them into the bookcase. "A little of both, I guess. I don't hate the man, and as long as I'm with Aria, I don't think I ever will. But I can't really respect someone who, one, uses violence to resolve their feelings. And two, someone who would push their child out of their home, and refuse to let them come back."

"Even though you **know** your relationship is immoral?" Adriana asked as she passed him the last stack of books.

Ezra took them from her. "It's immoral based on other people's ethics. I'm not saying they're wrong, but if people would give it more than less than half a chance-"

"I get it," Adriana insisted, nodding her head. "And I understand why you guys feel the way you do. I agree it's not fair. I just…I imagine what it would've been like if it was us, back home. I mean dad is gone. Can you honestly say that if I had come home and said I was sleeping with Mr. London that you would have just said go forth and be happy?"

"He was twenty six," Ezra argued. "I'm barely twenty-three. There's a huge difference between a six year age difference and a ten year age difference. Especially when one of those people is in high school. **As a student.**"

Adriana chuckled. "I get it. But you didn't answer my question."

Ezra sighed as he moved past Adriana and dropped into his desk chair. She pushed a few books aside and then hopped up onto his desk, crossing her legs.

"Would I have been okay with it if you came home and said you were in love with your teacher, and he was in love with you…Probably not." Ezra shook his head, drumming his fingers against the desk as he looked up at her. "Look, I don't pretend to think that in any other situation this is okay, but Aria and I haven't been sleeping together since day one. I don't understand why we get each other. We just do."

"I'm not getting down on your mojo," Adriana assured him. "I'm just saying that some of what her parents think and say isn't entirely unreasonable."

Ezra waved his arms out. "I never said they were being unreasonable! I understand that they're upset because we didn't tell them. And I expected anger. I expected arguments. But I never expected to be beat up. I never expected that my girlfriend was going to be pushed out of her home. And I can't lie…Aria and I waited longer than we probably should have because of me. She wanted to tell her parents sooner. But I was afraid."

"Of what?"

Ezra shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Of losing everything?"

He knew he didn't have to go into detail in order for Adriana to understand. Adriana had been there through the hell that was the breakup with Jackie. She'd been there every time Ezra hit a low spot. For a guy who'd had it easy growing up, save for a few issues with his parents, he certainly wasn't having the best go at being an adult just yet. Jackie had cheated on him and broken his heart after he proposed, then he'd fallen in love with a student. It seemed he just couldn't win when it came to women.

"So what do you think mom is going to think of Aria?" Ezra asked after a bit.

Adriana shrugged, picking at a charm on the bracelet wrapped around her left wrist. "I don't know. Granted, you know mom. She loves you best, so I don't see why she won't love Aria just the same."

"She does _not_ love me best," Ezra insisted. He started shuffling papers around on his desk.

"It's too bad you can't show up like an hour after Hardy and I get there," Adriana mused. "At least then there would be a buffer so that mom wouldn't kill us. I swear, I think Hardy is going to have a coronary before we ever even leave Rosewood."

Ezra couldn't help his reaction. The mere idea of his best friend pacing and worrying about the tiny, frail woman that was their mother killing him was funny. No, actually it was hilarious. Serena Fitz could pack a punch so hard that you'd think it came from someone else, if you judged her on looks alone. She was shorter than Aria and Adriana; standing only four feet, eleven inches. She had a small frame to match it, which had greatly benefited her in her earlier years. Now at the age of fifty-two, she was happy to enjoy her life at home. She had never remarried after her divorce, and both of her children were okay with that decision.

A knock on the door brought Ezra and Adriana out of their conversation, but only for a brief moment. The fact that it was Hardy only caused Ezra to start laughing again.

Adriana hopped down from her brother's desk and walked over to Hardy, kissing him chastely on the cheek.

"What's he having a fit about?" Hardy asked.

Adriana rolled her eyes. "He getting shits and giggles over the idea of you freaking out about telling mom about us this weekend."

Hardy shuddered. "Don't remind me. I keep rehearsing that conversation over and over in my head, and it always ends with her chasing me out of the house with that metal baseball bat we used to keep in our dorm."

Ezra laughed, trying to get himself composed as he stood from his seat. "Well, you know, just try not to run like a chicken."

Hardy rolled his eyes at Ezra and turned his attention back to Adriana. "Maybe we should get out of here and go hang out somewhere where the crazies aren't allowed."

"Yeah…" Adriana mused for a moment. "Like psych class." She looked down at her watch and then kissed Hardy's cheek again. "I've got enough time to grab a sandwich from a vending machine before I run across campus. You can walk me over if you want," she teased.

"Sure," Hardy agreed. He looked over at Ezra, who'd finally managed to pull himself together. "You're still coming with us to New York this weekend, right?"

Ezra nodded.

"Your girl coming too?"

Ezra nodded again. He picked up his coffee thermos off the desk and took a drink from it. "We won't be leaving until after the battle of the bands over at Rosewood, but I don't think she's planning on staying through the whole thing."

"Great," Hardy replied. "You two can be in charge of snacks for the drive. I don't want to screw up and end up buying flaming hot cheetos again."

Ezra nodded in agreement. "As long as you don't suddenly decide to forget the emergency travel kit again. There's no way I'm sleeping out in the woods again for two days."

"Oh good lord, you two! I'm leaving, otherwise I'm going to be late!" Adriana whined. She marched off towards the door. Hardy followed her after like a puppy.

Ezra turned his attention to the papers on his desk. He grabbed the first one off a stack and flipped it open. He began reading through it, and then editing.

A knock on his door brought his attention back up from the paper he was trying to grade. It was a girl from his advanced composition class. She was a petite blond girl with big bright blue eyes and from the little he knew about her, she was a cheerful girl with a spunky attitude towards life.

"Siobhan." He pushed back from his desk a bit. "Something I can help you with? I know you've missed class this morning."

She nodded slowly, pulling her white cardigan tighter around herself as she stepped inside the room. Ezra took in the view of her, and something didn't seem right. It was almost seventy degrees outside; almost everyone he'd seen that day was in shorts and light clothing. He'd seen even Byron had dressed similarly to him, in khaki shorts.

Siobhan was different though. She had on a cardigan and ripped jeans. She looked like she'd been crying too.

Ezra furrowed his brow, pushing up from his desk. He walked around his desk and leaned against it. "Did something happen, Shiv?"

"I didn't know who to go to," she said softly. "I kept wracking my brain all morning. I- M-My friends wouldn't understand. But you're new here, and I just thought…" She shook her head, clenching her hands together into fists. "I don't know what to do," she cried.

Ezra gripped the desk under his hands. He knew immediately that whatever she was about to tell him wasn't going to be anything good. He had fully embraced the fact that when he decided to teach, that there was going to be a certain aspect that meant being a go-to person for his students. Even so, this was the last thing he had expect to happen in his first year.

"Well whatever it is, I'm here to listen," he said softly. "And together we can figure out what the right course of action is to go about rectifying it. Okay?"

She only nodded in response.

_-  
>It's all your own and I can tell<br>__It comes naturally, it comes naturally  
>- <em>

Aria munched on a leftover piece of pizza as she and Spencer sat curled over their textbooks. Spencer's dad was headed out of town the next day, so she had planned to go back home then. In the meantime, Aria had made sure she understand that the guest room was open for her if she needed it.

"Did you finish your paper," Aria asked as she looked up from her laptop keyboard. She held a piece of pizza crust between her teeth.

Spencer was seated on the floor at the coffee table. She looked up at Aria and lifted a notebook she was currently writing in, in gel pen. "Finishing it right now. Its weird, knowing your mom is going to read this, though. She'll probably think I'm a tramp for going after Wren."

Aria shook her head at Spencer. She chewed off the last of her pizza and then grabbed her glass of water and got up from her seat, walking over to the couch.

"She won't think you're a tramp. I'm the tramp in Rosewood, remember?" Aria said.

Spencer looked up at her. "At least until Hanna's dad moves here with Kate and Isabel."

Aria and Spencer chuckled. Hanna had barely uttered anything that day that _wasn't_ a cut to girls outside of their group of friends. Ever since she'd found out her dad was moving to town with his new wife and step-daughter the night before, her attitude had been less than stellar. She'd been running at the mouth for most of the school day about how much she couldn't stand Isabel and how she hated Kate.

Aria pulled her cell phone out of the left pocket of her skirt and looked at the time. It was after nine PM.

"I wonder where Ezra is. Tuesdays usually aren't this late for him," she murmured. She furrowed her brow as she opened her text messages. She'd sent him several during the evening. She hadn't heard back yet.

Aria turned her attention to Spencer as she settled her phone in her lap. "I thought you said Toby was coming over?"

Spencer nodded. "He got a job up in Philly. He had to drive back from there."

Before Aria could say anything else, the front door opened. She and Spencer looked over in the direction of it. Ezra came through with Toby close on his heel.

Aria pushed up from her seat and walked over to Ezra. He looked tired and stressed. "Where were you? I texted you."

Ezra nodded, dropping his bag inside their bedroom door. "Can I talk to you for a moment."

Aria nodded, grabbing his hand. Ezra stepped inside the bedroom. She looked over shoulder at Spencer, who was embraced in a hug with Toby.

"I'll be just a minute," she murmured. She walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. "What's up?"

Ezra was hastily unbuttoning his shirt, desperately trying to get out of his clothes. He simply wanted to get away from anything that reminded him of how his afternoon had gone.

Aria narrowed her eyes at him, becoming more confused by the second. She walked over to him and grabbed his hands as they fussed with a button and squeezed them lightly. "Hey," she said. "Talk to me."

He opened his mouth for a brief moment as he searched for the right words, breathing out a long sigh. He closed his mouth a moment later, looking in her eyes. "I don't know where to begin."

"The beginning is a great spot," Aria told him softly. She reached a hand up and cupped his cheek. "Did someone do something?"

Ezra laughed mockingly. "Did someone do something. Yeah. Someone did _something._Makes me sick, too."

"So tell me," she said softly. She started unbuttoning his shirt, getting them apart faster than his frustrated fingers had been able to. She pushed his shirt of his shoulders. Ezra yanked it down from behind his back and then swept his t-shirt over his head in one swift moment, revealing his toned waist. A few moments later, he kicked away his shoes and his shorts, and then walked over to the dresser to find a pair of pants and a t-shirt.

Aria sat down on the bed and crossed her legs. "Ezra, talk to me."

He pulled on a thin pair of jogging pants and a loose t-shirt and then turned to face her. He crossed his arms as he leaned against the dresser behind him. "I had this student come to me today. I'm still getting to know some of them, but this one- she's a freshman. Eighteen. She's extremely smart and driven, and she's got a lot of friends."

"Okay," Aria said. "What happened?"

Ezra looked up at her, dropping his arms to rest his hands against the top of the dresser. "Every time a student comes to my door, I'm so sure I'm going to hear about how they knew someone who was in an inappropriate relationship with their teacher. I've already had it happen a few times in the last few weeks, but this girl…" He shook his head as he cast his eyes down towards the floor.

"Something happened to her?" Aria asked.

Ezra shook his head, clearly taking what had happened very hard and to heart. "I always knew that teaching meant that my students might come to me with personal information about their lives, but I wasn't prepared for this."

He walked over to the bed and sat down in front of Aria. She moved towards him and wrapped her legs loosely around him as she rested her chin on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms under his. Ezra held her hands under his, squeezing them lightly.

"She told me one of the professors she has raped her. Someone I know," he said softly. "Someone I trusted."

"And she was telling the truth?" Aria asked.

Ezra nodded. "As far as I could tell. I mean, I've heard rumours about the guy, but I was trying not to pass off judgment on anyone. It's been tough enough with all the rumours going around campus about _my_relationships. I just figured maybe the guy was being too harshly judged, or maybe he was making actions that he shouldn't have. I don't know. But Shiv is eighteen. She doesn't have anything to gain from this…"

"So is that where you were?"

Ezra nodded. "She was too afraid to go to anyone alone, so I went with her to the campus police, and then I helped her tell her parents. They live in Philadelphia, so we had to wait for them. Her dad thought when she got so upset that she was going to tell him that she and I were dating. Somehow I think that if that had been the case, he would've taken it better."

Aria rubbed her hands gently against his chest. "I'm sorry."

Ezra shook his head, turning to look at her. "It just made me realize that for as wrong as some of your parents judgments may have been, that there's at least a small part of their basis of thinking that isn't entirely wrong."

"I know," Aria said softly.

Ezra chuckled softly, loosening her arms around him as he interlaced their fingers with both hands. "I just can't wait to find out what's going to happen tomorrow when your father finds out. Should make for an interesting conversation."

"Maybe he'll realize he should be grateful for what _hasn't_ happened to me," Aria said softly.

"Maybe," Ezra replied back.

Aria kissed him chastely. "Did you eat anything tonight?"

"I made sure Siobhan and I both ate while we waited for her parents. All I really want to do is call it a night." He stared at her for a moment. "You going to be up much longer?"

Aria shook her head. "I could call it a night, too. Let me just tell Spencer."

She removed her arms from around him and then moved off of the bed and walked out of the room. Spencer was shuffling around things on the coffee table.

"Where's Toby?" Aria asked. She walked over to the dining table and hit the save button on her paper before she closed her laptop and started putting her school books into her bag.

"Bathroom," Spencer replied. "He's leaving in a bit."

Aria shook her head. "Don't rush yourself because of me. We're going to bed, though, so.."

"I'll be quiet," Spencer replied. "Is Ezra okay?"

Aria nodded slowly, tucking her hands into her pockets. "Just a tough day. I'll tell you tomorrow." She walked over to Spencer. They hugged quickly.

"Sleep tight," Aria murmured as she walked towards her bedroom door.

"You too," Spencer replied.

Aria nodded, pushing the bedroom door open. Ezra had discarded his t-shirt and was currently scrolling through her iPod.

"Looking for something specific?" Aria asked as she closed the door behind her. She unbuttoned her shorts and began pushing them off her hips.

Ezra shrugged, settling the iPod back on the base a moment later. It lit off for two seconds and then dimmed as he hit the power button. Aria walked over to the bed and slipped under the blankets next to him. They laid down facing each other.

"You know I love you, right?" He asked softly.

Aria smiled as the song began to play softly behind her. "Of course."

_"…Watching you stand alone,  
>All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow<em>

_One step closer…" _

Ezra cupped her face as he kissed her lips, parting them immediately with his tongue. Aria wrapped her arms around him, wrapping one of her legs over his as they laid there. After a few minutes, Ezra removed his hand from her face and moved it down to her hips, running his fingers over her lacy booty shorts before running his fingers under his shirt that she was still wearing and slowly started moving his hands up her back.

Aria rolled on top of him and sat up. She stared down at him as she lifted her arms up, offering to let him remove her t-shirt.

"_All along, I believed I would find you  
><em>_Time has brought your heart to me,  
><em>_I have loved you for a thousand years…"_

Ezra sat up and pulled the shirt over her head, tossing it across the room. Her unclasped bra met it a few moments later as he slipped the straps off her shoulders and then tossed it as well. Aria ground her hips down against his as her arms wrapped around his back. Ezra wrapped one hand around her, letting it rest on her lower back while his other hand moved into her hair, pulling at the roots as he laid them back down and reversed their position so that she was under him. Her lips were full as he bit down gently on her bottom lip and brushed his tongue over hers.

He moved his hands gently up to hers and pulled them down slowly as he started to trail kisses down her neck to her shoulders.

"_I will be brave, I will not let anything  
><em>_Take away what's standing in front of me  
><em>_Every breath, every hour has come to this…"_

Aria shuddered as a cool breeze moved across the room while Ezra trailed wet kisses down her stomach. He looked up at her as his hands came to rest on her hips. He curled his fingers into her panties and then pulled them off of her, moving off the bed long enough to remove his own pants and boxers.

He rejoined her on the bed a moment later, and groaned as Aria trailed kisses down his neck while her hands moved down towards his growing erection. He closed his eyes and gulped as she squeezed him while slowly stroking him. A gutteral moan escaped him as he struggled to dig his hand through the nightstand drawer, searching desperately for the box of condoms. Neither of them were embarrassed to admit there was a box on each side of the bed. The preferred to be safe, rather than sorry.

"I want you," he groaned softly into her ear as he finally grasped a foil package between his fingers. He pulled his hand from the nightstand drawer and pushed it shut. Aria leaned back against the stack of pillows and removed her hands from him as she took the condom wrapper from his hands.

Ezra's lips were on her collar bone as she tore the package open and removed the condom. She moved her hands under him and grasped the tip of the condom with her left hand while she began to roll the protective latex down his penis, squeezing him as she did so. Ezra groaned, nearly collapsing against her as she reached his base, and then brought her hand back up to the head of his erection and gave it one last squeeze.

Aria moved her hands up to his face and brought him up to kiss her as Ezra pushed her legs apart. He slipped two fingers inside of her while his thumb brushed up against her clitoris. He had every intention of taking her, as soon as he was sure that she was wet enough to produce enough friction between them. And, he kind of wanted to pay her back for the teasing she had been doing for the last few moments. He smiled against her lips as her hips shot up against his hand as he pressed down against her clitoris. He knew she was ready.

He removed his hand from between his legs and centered himself between her legs. He looked up at her with bated breath as he gently began to slide into her while he grasped her hands in his.

Not one to be entirely patient, Aria moved her legs down slightly on his hips and pushed him into her completely. They both gasped at the sudden change; Aria because of how different she always felt when he had filled her completely. Ezra because of how tightly her body always gloved against him, and how much it always turned him on that much more.

Seconds later, their lips were crashed against each other as he released her hands and Aria moved her hands into his hair again. Ezra's hands were on either side of her head as he thrust his body against hers, each of them trying to be quiet so that they didn't give away that they were doing to Spencer and, or Toby.

"_One step closer…One step closer,_

_I have died everyday waiting for you,  
><em>_Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you  
><em>_For a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more  
><em>_And along, I believed I would find you  
><em>_Time has brought your heart to me  
><em>_I have loved you for a thousand years…  
><em>_I love you or a thousand more…"_

Ezra grunted, biting down on Aria's shoulder as his thrusts began to grow more frantic. The combination of her tightening around him from her impending orgasm, and struggling to wait long enough to meet her was putting him in a tough spot.

Aria dug her nails into his shoulders, biting him hard on his neck as her body clamped down on him. He thrusted several more times into her before his body finally met hers in climax. They breathed raggedly for several minutes as he gently lowered against her, trying to catch his breath. Aria ran her fingers loosely through his hair, watching him as he laid there or the proceeding minutes with his eyes closed.

"I love you so much," she whispered to him.

Ezra opened his eyes and smiled at her, reaching up to brush his thumb over her collarbone where he'd broken skin. "I love you too. And apparently I marked you, too."

Aria chuckled softly, groaning as it caused his softening penis to move inside of her. Ezra moved slowly off of her and turned away for a moment, removing the condom and tossing it into the trash. They gravitated towards each other and met in the center of the bed. Aria rested on her back while Ezra laid on his side with his arms wrapped around her. Aria kept her fingers running through his hair, staring at him.

"I'm not the only one with bite marks," she said softly.

They stared at each other as they laid next to each other, content just to be in the comfort of each other's arms.

"I can't imagine anything more perfect than moments like this," Ezra whispered softly as he laid next to her with his eyes closed. "Laying here with you. It's how I know that things won't always be the way they are with your parents. Eventually they'll have to stop denying that this is right."

"I hope so," Aria murmured.

Ezra opened his eyes and looked into hers. "I **know** so."

**A/N: Incase you were confused Siobhan is pronounced Shiv-on. **


	17. Set Fire To The Third Bar

**A/N: **I promised an update today, so I bring it to you. And I've gotten a couple of messages about this, so I feel the need to say this on here: **yes, I have chapters typed up in advance, but there's a reason for that and here it is: I used to write stories and posted them as I finished chapters. However, it's really unfair for me to do that to you guys, because sometimes writers block hits and then you are left hanging for weeks on end for an update. At this rate, when I update every 5-7 days, that gives me enough time to get (at the least) one chapter written out. **Yes, it means you're left waiting for updates in the meantime, but it also means you're waiting less time than you would be if I was posting every day (which, by the way, I can't, because I don't have internet at home.)

Anyhow…onward!

_Chapter 16_

_Set Fire To The Third Bar_

Wednesday didn't bring much to entice Aria or Ezra. The bullying within her classes was growing increasingly worse, but she had yet to say anything about it, mostly because she didn't want to alarm Ezra with useless things.

Ezra himself was not too focused on much as it was, being that he was still trying to swallow the situation that had gone on Tuesday afternoon. An investigation was now in full swing against the professor who had raped one of his students, and the whole campus was abuzz with stories of curiosity. Everyone wanted to know who had reported the professor and if it was true. If things weren't bad enough, the dean of the english department had yet to announce whether the said professor was dismissed from duty.

On the other hand, Siobhan refused to go to that particular class, or any class she had in that hall. Being that Ezra gave two of the four lectures for his classes in that hall, he was struggling just to keep her caught up just with current homework.

She had been in his office getting a review of his lectures on that particular afternoon when, as Ezra suspected, Byron came by asking questions.

There wasn't even a knock on his door when it opened. Ezra looked up from the textbook on the table. He'd been seated next to her, though Siobhan kept several inches of space between them for her own comfort. Ezra had been explaining the need for exposition before a catalyst when Byron had shoved the door open.

"Tell me that _you_ are not involved in this," he'd said coldly as he stood in Ezra's doorway.

Ezra's jaw dropped slightly as he looked at his girlfriend's father. He was torn between being incredibly frustrated and pissed off that Byron had simply barged into his room, and entirely confused as to what the older man was talking about.

"What _are_ you talking about?" Ezra asked.

"This rumour going around about a teacher assaulting a-"

Ezra cut off the older man before he could finish. Siobhan shuddered beside him, and he felt terrible for having to say that he was remotely involved in any of it, especially when she was sitting right beside him.

"I'm sorry, but I'd be lying if I said that," Ezra said honestly.

Byron's fists clenched, and he took on an angered look at Ezra. "How dare you. After everything you've done to ruin Aria's life-"

Siobhan could see that Byron taking the situation out of context, at least from the context that Ezra had intended it, and she shot up from the seat on the couch.

"It's me who reported it," she said shakily, cutting Byron off. Byron looked at her, and stood there dumbstruck.

Siobhan shook her head, crossing her arms tightly around her body, feeling uncomfortable yet again. "I came to Mr. Fitz for help," she said shakily. "He hasn't been here that long, and I didn't think anyone who had been would believe me."

Ezra stared up at the young girl, feeling entirely terrible that Byron had pushed her into telling something that she didn't want to. He stood up and placed a comforting hand on Siobhan's back.

"I went with her to talk to the campus police yesterday. But _no_, it's not what you think, because it _wasn't_ me who did it. As much as you wish it wasn't the case, the only person I've been with is your daughter."

The conversation had ended there, and Byron had refused to give Ezra any more time in his day.

Thursday wasn't much better. Ezra knew his day was going to be long so that the weekend would be free, and it was the same all the way around for everyone else. Aria was cramming in as much studying as possible so she could ditch her books until Sunday evening, plus she'd had a five hour shift over at Retta's to make up for the fact that she wasn't going to be around for the entire weekend. After that, she'd spent another hour over at Hollis putting a base coat of paint on her now put together stool before she had headed over to Spencer's.

Spencer settled a tray of snacks on the island in her kitchen and then sat down across from Aria, flipping through her Russian Lit textbook. Hanna snatched a cookie off of the tray and chewed on it.

"The other kids in the expo are _not_ happy that I wasn't there today to rehearse," Aria said as she scribbled something into a notebook.

Spencer shook her head. "Don't pay any attention to it. You know that's what they want."

"I don't even know why I agreed to do it," Aria uttered. "I'm sure the minute I get up there, kids are going to be screaming at me to get off stage."

"Just ignore it," Emily told her. "There's no use in letting what they're saying get to you. If you do that, they're just getting what they want."

Hanna looked down at her phone, pushing the volume button on the side to bring up the time. It was after ten.

"We've got to get home," she said to Emily.

Emily nodded, closing up her textbooks. She and Hanna packed their things up while Aria continued scribbling in a notebook.

"You're staying the night, right?" Spencer asked Aria. "My parents are gone-"

Aria looked up and nodded. "Ezra's pulling an all-nighter so that we can go to New York tomorrow."

"Ohh, New York," Hanna said cheerfully. "H&M, DSW…I'm so jealous!"

Aria laughed. "Yeah. Adriana's pretty psyched too."

"I can't believe you're skipping out on prom to go to New York," Hanna said.

Aria shook her head at Hanna. "Why would I want to go to prom? I can't bring my boyfriend, and I'm sure I'd just get shoved around anyway. It's not like they had any problem doing it today."

Aria moved off her seat and walked over to the sink with her empty glass. She turned the faucet on and waited for the water to turn cold before she filled it with water.

Hanna tossed her school bag over her shoulder, and then she and Emily walked over to Aria and Spencer and hugged they all hugged each other, spreading around 'I love you's'. A few moments later, Hanna and Emily were gone out the front door, leaving Aria and to the Hastings home all alone.

"Why in the world does your mother insist on assigning papers every night of the week now? My brain doesn't have any words left in it," Spencer whined.

Aria laughed. "Something to do with expanding the mind. Simone used to talk about that all the time back when she was in my baby sitter. My parents were always on us about doing more than just staying in the norm. I remember last year when we were in Iceland, I had to write this five thousand word story for my English final, and I didn't think I had it in me. I whined and whined about it for days, and it turned out I didn't even have to worry about it, because I had written things longer than that."

"Lucky for you," Spencer teased. "I'm having enough issues just getting my paper for Latin written."

Aria closed her notebook and pushed it aside. She grabbed her laptop from beside her things and opened it up. "Well, I've got my papers finished and I'm bored of studying."

"So you're going to read the comments that bullies are leaving on your socialpage?" Spencer asked.

Aria shook her head. "I'm not even going on there. Just reading my Hollis page."

"Oh hey, that reminds me!" Spencer said cheerfully. "What happened with Ezra on Tuesday? You said you would tell me yesterday."

"Yeah," Aria murmured, looking over her screen at Spencer. "He um… There was a student, I guess. She got hurt, and she went to him because he's the newest teacher. I guess she thought he'd be less biased, because she said it was one of the other teachers that hurt her. I think it just really affected him that someone so close to his own age was hurt that way, you know?"

Spencer nodded. It reminded them both of when Alison's body finally turned up. They both had easy upbringings, and had never really lost anyone their own age. Alison had changed all of that.

"What do you think Alison would say if she were here now?" Aria asked after a moment. "If she were here and she saw everything that was going on in our lives? You dating Toby. Me and Ezra…"

Spencer laughed. "My relationship with Toby wouldn't exist because we both know she wouldn't let it. And I think your relationship with Ezra would be more screwed up than it already has been, because Alison would be meddling, like she always did. Hell, she'd probably have found a way to force you to tell your parents about your relationship."

Aria took a long breath and shook her head, waiting for her Hollis page to load. "I know that Alison could be a good friend when she wanted to be, but sometimes I wonder how we were ever friends with someone so vicious."

"Because Alison was like A," Spencer replied bluntly. "She could make you feel good one minute, but at the end of the day, she was the one with all our secrets. She could've screwed us all with everything she knew."

"Yeah," Aria murmured in reply.

Spencer shook her head, picking up her mug of coffee off the counter. She took a sip from it. "I remember right before she died, we had this argument. She was talking about how she _made _all of us, and we were nothing without her, I told her, what was a leader without any followers."

Aria nodded. She looked back at her screen and looked at the feed.

_Adriana Fitz posted on your wall: Tomorrow can't come fast enough! NYC here we come! I swear my credit card is burning!_

Aria laughed and shook her head at the comment. She placed her hands on the keys and began to type a response.

_Aria Montgomery: I'm dying to get out of town for a few days. Can't wait to meet your mom and see New York again!_

She smiled as she hit enter, and the post showed up on her page. It had been nearly four years since she'd been to New York. Her family used to vacation there during the holidays, and then make a trip up there at the beginning of the summer for a week.

Before she could click anything else, an IM popped up on her screen. She looked up at it and couldn't help but chuckle.

_**LadyFitz92: Are you as psyched as I am! :D**_

Aria giggled, clicking on the small reply box.

_**ShadesOfGreyxx: I wish it was tomorrow night already.  
><strong>__**LadyFitz92: I can't wait to be home! There's nothing like being in New York.  
><strong>__**ShadesOfGreyxx: I know it. We used to vacation there during the holidays.  
><strong>__**LadyFitz92: I talked to my mom earlier tonight. She makes this killer lasagna, and I convinced her to make it for dinner tomorrow night ;)**_

Spencer shoved her books shut and stuffed them into her book bag, clearing her throat loudly. Aria looked up at her.

"Hmm?"

"What's so funny? You keep giggling." Spencer said.

Aria shrugged. "Adriana's talking about our trip to New York."

"Oh," Spencer murmured.

If there was one emotion Aria thought Spencer wasn't capable of, it was jealousy. She had never pegged the taller girl as someone who felt envious of another person, regardless of the reason why.

"Spence, you know that Adriana isn't going to replace anyone in our group," Aria consoled. "She's just a friend outside of our group. She's Ezra's sister, and she's nice."

"I know," Spencer replied softly. "And I know it's really stupid. I'm guess I'm just afraid that she's going to come in between all of us. It's ridiculous, I know, but I guess its because I don't have that issue, you know. Toby hates Jenna, and we don't really like her either."

Aria nodded, giving Spencer a sympathetic look. Spencer rolled her eyes.

"Don't take pity on me. I know I'm being ridiculous."

Aria chuckled. "You're not being ridiculous. But I know that Adriana likes you guys too. I know it sounds stupid, but I think she really just wants to be accepted. She's so…" Aria shook her head, trailing off. "She had dinner with us last night, and for as spunky and funny as she can be, she's just got this thing about her, like she's just so eager to please. She actually reminds me a lot of you."

Spencer rolled her eyes, blushing.

"Seriously!" Aria insisted. "She had her nose in her textbook every second that she wasn't talking last night. I thought she wasn't paying attention, but when I gave her that look we usually give you, she repeated back _everything_ that I said to her."

Spencer chuckled. "It's just that you've been here through everything since they found Alison's body. And I'm really grateful for that." She chuckled. "Probably more than Adriana could ever be."

Aria laughed and shook her head. She looked back to her computer screen.

_**LadyFitz92: Hey, are you with Z right now?  
><strong>__**ShadesOfGreyxx: Nope. He's still at Hollis as far as I know. Supposed to call me when/if he goes home.  
><strong>__**LadyFitz92: Okie dokie! Gotta go. Girlfriend duties.  
><strong>__LadyFitz92 has signed off_

Aria closed the IM and then pushed off her seat. "I'm gonna go change really quick."

Spencer nodded, continuing to put things into her bag. "I'm gonna call for a pizza. Is pepperoni okay?"

Aria nodded, yanking a shirt and a pair of sweat shorts out of her bag. She walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She pulled off the shorts she'd worn to school and tossed them onto the counter, and then removed her shirt as on the shorts, and then grabbed the shirt that she'd brought with her. It was one of Ezra's dress shirt. She'd brought it with her mostly so she could have something with her that was his.

She pulled the shirt over her head and popped the collar up, taking a long sniff of it. Ezra's scent lingered on it. It was comforting to her.

She grabbed her clothes off the floor and folded them before draping them over her left arm. She walked out of the bathroom, back to the kitchen. She placed her clothes inside the duffel bag she's brought with her and picked up her glass of water. She took a drink from it.

"Well don't you look hot," Spencer teased. She'd changed too, into a long t-shirt and running pants.

Aria gripped the collar of her shirt and struck a pose, winking at Spencer teasingly. Spencer laughed and snapped a photo on her phone. Aria giggled, sitting down on the bar stool she'd been sitting on before. She clicked her touchpad on her laptop to bring the screen back up. There were new posts on her newsfeed.

_Ezra Fitz: New York, I've missed you. Excited to hit your streets tomorrow with love, and someone very special.  
><em>_2 people like this. Like. Comment._

Aria clicked the 'like' button and then proceeded to read the comments already posted.

_**Adriana Fitz: If you love somebody, gotta love 'em all the same. That song is STUCK in my head! Definitely on the road playlist!**_

_**Mateo Carson: Take me with! Missin' NYC so much this time of year.**_

_**Hardy Danielson: Is it Friday yet? I want that lasagna NOW.**_

_**Adriana Fitz: I want the rigatoni pasta she always makes with it. Yummm. **_

_**Ezra Fitz: Alright, alright. I haven't even eaten dinner yet. Shhh!**_

Spencer peered over Aria's shoulder as she settled her school bag next to the island. "Damn, you people are desperate to get out of town."

Aria giggled. "It's cute, how excited they are."

"Are you?" Spencer asked. "Road trip without your parents?"

Aria nodded, smiling. "I am. I feel like I've heard so much about Ezra's mom, I'm excited to finally meet her."

"Really? You're not nervous?" Spencer asked.

Aria shrugged. "I'm leaving it to Hardy to be nervous enough for the both of us. Besides, he's the one dropping a bomb on Ezra's mom. She already knows Ezra and I are together."

"Does she know you used to be his student?" Spencer asked.

Aria gulped. That was a question she couldn't answer with entire honesty. She had never asked Ezra if he told his mom that she wasn't of legal age. "I don't know. I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

As if on cue, her phone started to buzz spastically on the island. She reached down and picked it up, hitting the talk button. Conveniently, Spencer's began to ring shortly thereafter.

Aria pushed away from the island and walked over to a chair in the sitting room. She curled up into it as she brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hey. What're you doing?"

Ezra's voice came back over the line. _"Eating a giant bowl of cereal. Turns out I don't keep my office as stocked with food as I thought I did." _

Aria chuckled. "I miss you."

She could practically feel Ezra's smile over the other end of the call. _"I miss you, too. I'll meet you for coffee at Retta's tomorrow at seven. How does that sound?" _

Aria smiled. "It sounds great. Are you getting your work done? And will I see you before the expo starts tomorrow night?"

"_Oh yes, plenty, ma'am." _He chuckled. _"It's mostly just reading and grading as it is. I'll be glad to have three months away from this," _He said honestly. _"As far as whether you'll see me is entirely based on how quickly your father is dying to get finished with our joint class tomorrow. It ends at four, so with any luck…" _

"_Good luck," _Aria laughed sadly. She really didn't have any hope that either of her parents would bother sticking around for the battle of the bands. Her hopes were very low that _anyone_ would care about her being there, for that matter.

The doorbell rang, and she exchanged a glance with Spencer.

"I'm gonna go. We ordered pizza, and then I think I'm gonna crash," Aria yawned. "I love you."

_"Sleep tight, beautiful," _he said. Aria blushed. _"I'll see you in the morning." _

Aria hung up her phone and walked over to the door next to Spencer. She grabbed her purse off the counter and pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her wallet, handing it over to the guy delivering the pizza. He gave her back her change and then bade them adieux before they closed the door.

Spencer made sure the doors were locked while Aria returned to the island with the pizza. Aria pushed down the cover of her laptop and tucked it into her bag and then snatched a fresh slice of pizza out of the box and munched on it.

"How is _Ezra_?" Spencer teased.

Aria rolled her eyes, though she smiled. "Working. And doing the typical guy thing, eating a giant bowl of cereal."

"I've never understood that," Spencer said with a disgusted look. "I mean why would you want that much sugar in a mixing bowl?"

"You got me," Aria replied.

They proceeded to polish off their pieces of pizza, and then each of them ate another before they decided to call it a night and they both headed up to Spencer's room. Given the fact that it was just the two of them, they decided to share Spencer's bed. Granted, getting into bed didn't actually mean going to sleep. Instead, they were both texting.

"Now, just because I might face you at some point during the night doesn't mean you can snuggle with me," Spencer said with a serious voice. "I'm not Ezra."

"Oh my god," Aria groaned. "I do _not_ snuggle up to people just because I now share a bed with my boyfriend."

Spencer smirked at her as she settled her phone on the nightstand. "I'm just teasing you."

"Just remember I know Toby's phone number," Aria replied in the same teasing manner that Spencer had just spoke in. "And I'm not inept to sending him pictures of you sleeping, especially covered in permanent marker."

Spencer gaped at her. "You _wouldn't_!"

Aria giggled. "Oh, but I totally would."

"Do it, and that photo I took earlier goes viral," Spencer teased.

"Ohh," Aria laughed. "I'm _so _scared. There's just something _sooo _naughty about being dressed in **pajamas.**"

The girls giggled for several minutes before composing themselves. Shortly thereafter, Aria yawned, giving up on her texting with Ezra. She sent him a quick message to alert him that she was going to sleep and then settled the phone on the night stand before turning over onto her side, facing away from Spencer.

"Night, Spence."

"G'night, Aria."

The room was silent for a few moments. And then, "oh, you boyfriend _does_smell really good. Just thought you should know."

Neither girl could help it as Aria looked over her shoulder suspiciously at Spencer. They both fell into another fit of laughter.

_-  
>I'll stop the whole world<br>__From turning into a monster  
>- <em>

Aria yawned as she walked into Retta's. She was thankful to have a pocket full of cash as she walked up to the counter and proceeded to order three coffees. She almost laughed at herself for the fact that she was ordering all three coffees for herself.

She had learned the night before that Spencer liked to kick in her sleep when she was having nightmares. That usually wasn't a problem, but given all the things that were going on with Alison's murder investigation, A, and her father's issues with Toby, she had been rampant the night before.

That wasn't to say that Aria hadn't gotten _any _sleep; mostly just that the sleep she _had_ gotten wasn't all that great. She shook her head as her yawn came to an end, and handed over a twenty dollar bill to the girl working at the cashier.

She was dressed for a mixture of comfort and appeal. She had on a pair light blue skinny jeans and thigh-high boots, along with a thing, long-sleeved white chiffon shirt. Her hair was pulled up into a bun with a few tendrils of hair hanging to frame her face.

"Can I get a chocolate muffin too," she asked wearily.

The cashier nodded and keyed in the extra purchase, before handing two dollars and change back to Aria. Aria stuffed the money into her pocket and then crossed her arms and looked around the restaurant as she waited.

It was pretty dead, and Ezra had yet to show up. Spencer had opted to meet her later, since she was planning to meet up with Toby.

"Here you go," the girl murmured as she settled a tray filled with coffees on the counter. She dropped the muffin into a paper bag and settled it between the coffees. Aria picked up the tray and walked over to a booth near the window, facing the door. Once she was settled inside of it, she took out one of the coffees and took a long drink from it before pulling her muffin out of the bag.

A few minutes later when she was about halfway through her first coffee, a very disheveled Ezra came walking through the door. He looked over at her and gave a weary smile. Aria returned it.

"One of those for me," he asked tiredly.

"Nope," she said feigning greed. "They're all for me."

He chuckled and then walked over to the counter and ordered a coffee for himself before he walked over by Aria and sat down across from her.

"You look tired," Aria told him after she swallowed another gulp of coffee. "Did you sleep last night?"

Ezra nodded, running a hand through his hair. "As best I could. It dawned on me just how quiet it is in that apartment at night last night. Plus I kept thinking about Siobhan and all the stuff she's dealing with. I still can't believe your father made that comment right in front of her."

Aria raised her eyebrows and shook her head as she picked a sizable piece off of muffin off of the top of her muffin and placed it in her mouth. "He's never really been one who really filtered what he was saying before he said it."

"Well that's really unfortunate," Ezra replied. "There's no reason that Siobhan should've had to have seen that exchange. It was rude."

Aria nodded, reaching across the table. Ezra curled his fingers in her hand and smiled at her. They were interrupted for a brief moment as the cashier walked over with Ezra's coffee and check. She placed both on the table and then walked away, leaving Aria and Ezra to their conversation.

"I'm sorry," he said once she'd walked away. "I shouldn't be stressing you about him wit how your day is going to be."

Aria shrugged, finishing up her first up of coffee. She set it aside and then took several more bites from her muffin before offering what was left to Ezra. He took it from her and tore away the wrapper and then brought it up to his mouth and took a large bite out of it.

"Speaking of stresses…" Aria held a second cup of coffee in her hand. "Does your mom know I'm only seventeen?"

The fact that Ezra nearly choked on the piece of muffin he was currently chewing did nothing to quell Aria's nerves. On the contrary, it made her heart jump and her nerves kick into high gear.

Ezra gulped and took a long drink from his cup of coffee to wet his mouth before he finally answered her.

"I haven't disclosed your age to her," he admitted.

"You didn't think that was important?"

Ezra shook his head, squeezing her fingers gently in his hand. "It wasn't like that at all. Aria, my mother knows that I'm in a relationship that's been difficult because of certain circumstances. She knows that you're not eighteen yet, but I didn't send her birth certificate copy, if that's what you're asking."

Aria sighed. She moved to pull her hand from Ezra's, but he pulled her hand back and shook his head.

"Don't do that. I'm not uncomfortable with us being out in the open, and I guarantee my mother is going to love you, because I love you. Honestly, the reason she doesn't know more about you is because ever since everything happened with your parents, I didn't want one more person telling me how stupid I was."

"So you think your mother will think you're stupid?" Aria asked. She was confused.

"No, that was usually my dad's territory," he murmured under his breath. He shook his head. "I didn't want to risk an argument. My father's not in my life as it is, and my mom's kind of important to me."

Aria nodded slowly. Her features softened as what he had said sunk in. She knew how hard it was to not have her parents in her life, and she couldn't blame him for feeling like he didn't want to cause trouble. She also knew that his father had been less than cordial when his parents were still married.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. She interlaced her fingers with his. "I just don't want the weekend to be an entire disaster, especially when you guys seem so excited about it."

"You're not?" Ezra questioned.

Aria shook her head. "I am. I'm just nervous I guess."

"I thought you were leaving the nerves to Hardy." A chuckle rose in Ezra's throat before he could stop it. "According to Adriana, he gets worse as this evening gets closer. I don't know why don't just tell mom over the phone and spare themselves the trouble of having to _see_ her react."

"Wish_ we_ could've done that," Aria murmured. She bit her bottom lip inquisitively.

"Somehow, I think your father still would've found a way to hurt me," Ezra replied.

Aria shook her head, plastering on a smile. "Who cares, right? What's already happened can't be changed. Anyway, I'll be glad when its eight PM and we're on the road."

Ezra nodded, smiling back at her. "Me too. I'd like for us to take a walk in Central Park sometime this weekend."

Aria's smile widened at thought. It's something she had daydreamed about a few times, among other things that they would do in New York. She always envisioned that it would happen when she went to NYU in a year. She wanted more than anything to move there with Ezra and to have their own apartment in the east village.

"Where's your head at?" He asked, breaking through her thought process.

Aria shook her head, smiling at him. "Just about all the things I can't wait for us to do."

Ezra nodded, smiling back at her as he looked down at his watch. "It's seven thirty."

"Already?" Aria whined. She reluctantly released his hand and grabbed her two cups of coffee. Ezra grabbed the empty tray, bag, and the leftover muffin wrapper. He walked over to the trash and tossed them away before walking out of Retta's with his own cup. Aria followed closely behind him.

He walked her over to her car and then held one of her coffees as she unlocked the doors and then started the car. Her perched down next to her as her door sat open.

"It's going to be a good day," he promised her. "Don't think about what anyone says to you. Nothing matters more than this."

Aria smiled softly at him. She leaned towards him. Ezra gripped the doorframe as he leaned up and kissed her. He broke away a few moments later, and they both sighed in content.

"I'll let you know when I'm on my way," he told her.

Aria nodded. "See you later."

Ezra placed a kiss on her forehead and then pushed to his feet. He closed her door and then tapped the top of the car before turning to walk back to his own, leaving the both of them to set off towards their different educational structures.

**A/N: **The beginnings of New York come in chapter 17! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!


	18. Did You Just Ask Me How I Feel

__**A/N:** And now, we approach part 1 of the New York weekend! Enjoy!

_Chapter 17_

_Did You Just Ask Me How I Feel_

The afternoon came quicker than Aria expected. The entire day flew by before she had a chance to really take in the fact that she was performing in front of most of the student body, and by the time it **did** phase her, it was almost five o'clock. She was somewhere between the fifth and tenth performance, which meant she could be waiting anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Even so, there was really nothing that could ease her nerves.

Spencer brushed past her in a rush, nearly knocking Aria's guitar from her lap as she did so. She was playing chords to Extra Ordinary, just trying to keep herself a teensy bit calm.

"Spencer, we need you!" Hanna shouted across the back stage area. "Noel is throwing a fit. Something to do with the time card." "Good god," Spencer called back. She stumbled as she passed by Aria, nearly knocking the guitar out of Aria's hands yet again. "I'm sorry, Aria." She stormed off in the other direction, yelling orders at Hanna.

Aria shook her head, continuing to strum the chords.

"_I'm imprisoned, I've been living a lie  
><em>_Another night, I'm putting on a disguise  
><em>_I wanna tear it off and step in the light  
><em>_Don't you… don't you…"_

"That's really good. Is it about Fitz?" Aria opened her eyes and smiled up at her brother. He was holding a cup of coffee out to her.

"Mocha cappuccino, just what you like. Right?"

Aria nodded, taking the cup from him. "Yeah, thanks." She took a sip from it. "And yeah. To the song, I mean."

"It's cool," Mike told her. "I think it's really cool that you're doing this, even with everything that's going on." Aria smiled at him. "Why aren't you out there watching? Aren't some of your friends performing for this?" Mike shrugged, shaking his head. "I know how you get when you have to sing publicly, and Dad and Fitz aren't here yet. I figured you'd need someone to cool your jets."Aria giggled, shaking her head. She leaned over hand gave Mike a loose hug. "Thanks for being here. It helps to have at least _someone_ in my corner." "Mom's out there too," Mike told her. "She'd kill me for telling you this, but ever since she knew you were performing, she and dad both decided to come tonight. I don't know whether they planning on cheering or booing, but they're both supposed to be here." Aria's jaw dropped just slightly, but before she could say anything, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She was in a pair of light blue jeans and a long-sleeved white t-shirt, with a black beanie on her head and knee-high boots.

She settled her cappuccino between her and Mike and then held her guitar with that hand and used the other to pull her phone from her pocket. She opened the new message.

"_I'm here. Place is packed.  
><em>_This is nuts."  
><em>_-Ezra_

Aria gulped. "Are there really that many people out there," she asked nervously.

Make shook his head at her. "Don't think about it. Just go out there and be great. You're up soon anyway. Can't back out now." "Ha _ha_," Aria said snarkily at him. Mike smiled at her. He pecked her on the head as he stood.

"I'm going out to watch with mom and dad. I'll see you later." "Not likely," Aria told him as he stood up.

"Why not?" "Ezra and I are headed up to New York City with his sister and her boyfriend after all of this. I'm not even sticking around to see who wins, because I _know_ it's not going to be me." She explained. "It's no big deal. I just agreed to it to help Spencer fill up the slots." "Then lets do something next week when you get back, like Monday." Mike offered.

Aria nodded, smiling at him. "That sounds great."

Mike walked away, and Aria proceeded to finish off her coffee before she tossed away the cup. Shortly after that, Hanna came over to tell her that she was up next.

Aria stood in the alcove of the stage, watching as a band in the freshman class played. For such young kids, she mused that they were actually pretty okay. It amazed her that people so young had so much talent. She never really saw herself that way.

Before she could muse too much though, they were finished, and Mona was walking out onto the stage to announce that it was Aria's turn. All at once, her hands began to start shaking, and her breathing quickened, and she was terrified. From the other side of the stage, Spencer was glaring at her and pointing to the stage. Her phone buzzed again in her pocket. She pulled it out.

"_Just take a breath. Breathe. I'm here to support you."  
><em>_-Ezra_

She smiled at the message, and it phased her that she could in fact do this. Forcing her nerves aside for the moment, she walked out onto the stage. She forced herself to ignore the mixed reviews of boos and cheers as she walked across the stage. She heard several loud whistles, and a part of her wondered if one of them wasn't her father.

In the middle of the stage, she settled on a chair alone. She adjusted the microphone in front of her a bit, and then looked out at the people in front of her. Suddenly, she felt like she couldn't play Make You Believe. She was sick and tired of trying to **make** people understand her. She smiled at her own choice, and then took a deep breath.

"This is How Strong."

From the audience, Ezra leaned against the wall near the auditorium doors. Ella and Byron were only a few feet away, standing in one of the aisles to make sure that the people there weren't running all over the place.

He had grown suddenly curious when Aria stated that she wasn't playing the song that she had written the week before. He was sure that somewhere in the back, Spencer was having a field day, if she had heard Aria. Even so, he watched as she began to strum the guitar.

"_If I don't cry, do you think I don't feel  
><em>_If I look away, it doesn't mean I don't see  
><em>_And just because I want someone when I'm alone  
><em>_Doesn't mean I'm helpless,  
><em>_And that I can't stand on my own…"_

His heart broke as he listened to her play, but it phased him that the room was dead silent except for her. People were actually listening.

"_How far can we go before we break  
><em>_How long can I wait  
><em>_How strong do you think I am?  
>How much can I take of this?<br>Am I a rock, or a rose, or fist?  
>Or the breath at the end of a kiss?<br>__How deep do you want to go?  
>Cause I'll go there if I can<br>__You make it harder than it has to be,  
><em>_How strong, how strong, do you think I am?" _

He smiled as she played, and watched her through the lens of his phone. He knew she would kill him later, but this was something he **had** to capture on film.

"You know she's gonna kill us, right?"

Ezra nearly jumped at the voice in his ear, and then realized it was Mike. Standing next to him was Hanna, and they were both recording the performance. Mike had his phone, while Hanna had brought a flip cam.

"_It's so hard to tell  
><em>_What's in you're heart  
><em>_What you keep to yourself  
><em>_Is tearing me apart_

_And should I be afraid  
><em>_To dream about you  
><em>_And if you feel the same  
><em>_What're you gonna do?_

_How far can we go before we break  
><em>_How long can I wait?"_

_Ezra stepped around Mike, never once losing focus of Aria on his phone as he lifted the phone over the younger man's head, and came to stand on the other side of Hanna. He watched through the screen on the back of her camera as she continued recording Aria's performance. _

"_How strong do you think I am?  
>How much can I take of this?<br>Am I a rock, or a rose, or fist?  
>Or the breath at the end of a kiss?<br>__How deep do you want to go?  
>Cause I'll go there if I can<br>__You make it harder than it has to be,  
><em>_How strong, how strong, do you think I am?Ohhh…_

_If I move in any closer  
><em>_If you let go and give yourself away  
><em>_And if we let this happen to us  
><em>_Everything will change…._

_How strong do you think I am?  
>How much can I take of this?<br>Am I a rock, or a rose, or fist?  
><em>_Mmm…_

_How deep do you want to go?  
>Cause I'll go there if I can<br>__You make it harder than it has to be,  
><em>_How strong, how strong, mmm…_

_How strong do you think I am?  
>How much can I take of this?<br>Am I a rock, or a rose, or fist?  
>Or the breath at the end of a kiss?<br>__How deep do you want to go?  
>Cause I'll go there if I can<br>__You make it harder than it has to be,  
><em>_How strong, how strong, do you think I am?"_

Just like that, nearly four minutes had passed, and suddenly Aria was staring at a silent room of people as she finished out the song. She wondered if it had reached the people it needed to, namely being her parents and Ezra. It had been something she had written long before they had actually told her parents, but around the time when she had told him that she **wanted** her parents to know. In between everything that was going on with A and thinking Ian was the one that had killed Alison, a lot of things had been stressing her at that time, threatening to break her down. Plus, she hand Ezra had just barely come out on the other side of a rough patch with their relationship barely intact. She had needed a way to get those emotions out.

The crowd errupted in a mixed review of cheers, but there were less boos than there had been when she'd walked out on stage, and she took it as a good sign. She pushed up out of her seat and walked backstage. Spencer was standing right behind the curtain.

"I don't know whether to hug you or kill you!" She squealed. "That wasn't the song we agreed on!"

Aria smiled at her friend, shaking her head as they walked over to where Aria had left her guitar case. "I got up there, and I just couldn't sing that song. I just realized how much I was sick of trying to make people approve of me and accept me, and it's honestly made me sick. I mean really, singing a song called _Make You Believe, _Spence? Why do I have to make people believe in me?"

"You don't," Spencer told her. "Or at least you shouldn't have to." "Exactly," Aria agreed. "Which is why I didn't play that song. I knew as soon as I sat down and was looking out there, out at my parents… All I wanted to do was tell them how much they'd been hurting me, instead of giving them another option to shoot me down." Spencer smiled at her and then hugged her once Aria had gotten her guitar tucked into her its case. Aria hugged her back before picking up the case.

"Thanks for doing this, regardless," Spencer told her. "Seems like we both gained something out of it."

Aria laughed, but as he looked off towards the doorway, she saw her mother standing there. Aria looked back at Spencer and shook her head.

"This isn't gaining anything. I'm going to New York." She and Spencer hugged once more, and then Aria promised to call her over the weekend before she made her way over to the exit. She walked out of the backstage without so much as a goodbye to her mother and passed through a sea of people as she walked out by the front doors. Ezra, Hanna, and Mike were all standing in the hall waiting or her.

She smiled at Ezra and walked over to him, dropping her guitar as she reached up to envelope him in a hug. He hugged her back and kissed her forehead.

"That was absolutely amazing. I'm really proud of you for doing that," he told her as he settled her back on the ground a few moments later.

Aria smiled at him cheerfully. "You think it didn't suck?"

"Suck?" Hanna squealed. "Aria, you just made Gina Ryan throw a fit and walk out! It's about time someone but that bitch in her place." "Ms. Marin," Ezra said with a firm voice. Even though he didn't teach at Rosewood anymore and he technically wasn't her teacher, he still wasn't someone who believed in using foul language in school. Even so, Hanna shrugged off his comment and hugged Aria again before she hugged Mike tightly.

"Thank you for being here," she told them. "All three of you. It means a lot."

"Yeah, yeah," Hanna said with a wave of her hand. "Like you'd rather be anywhere besides New York right now."

Aria smiled at her, slipping her hand into Ezra's. Mike had departed and headed back inside the auditorium, but Hanna followed them out of the building to Ezra's car, continuing to chat with Aria.

"I am pretty psyched," Aria said. "I heard something about killer lasagna for dinner tonight," she joked.

Ezra chuckled and then groaned as he pulled open the drivers side door. "God, don't remind me. Hardy hasn't shut up about it all day. I'm already hungry, and it's a two and a half hour drive."

Hanna hugged Aria tightly. "Have lots and lots of fun, and bring me back something from H&M. I'll be day dreaming of Versace and Dolce and Gabana."

Aria giggled and hugged Hanna back, rubbing her friend's back. "I'll bring back a Chanel bag just for you. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like heaven!' Hanna squealed as they departed. They shared goodbyes and then a moment later, Hanna headed back towards the school, while Aria and Ezra got settled in his car. Aria pulled her seatbelt across her body and then turned her attention to Ezra.

"So are we headed out of town, or…?" Ezra shook his head, shifting the car into gear and pulling onto the road. He moved his hand instinctively to her leg, and Aria rested her hand over it, curling her fingers inside his palm.

"We're going over to Hardy's place. He's got a jeep, so there'll be more space. Figured we could snooze while he drove." Aria couldn't lie. She loved the idea. Regardless of how nervous she had been all day, she hadn't really kicked her exhaustion.

"I'm really excited to be doing this with you," she told Ezra honestly. "It means a lot." Ezra smiled at her as he pulled up to a stop light. "Couldn't imagine doing it with anyone else.

Ten minutes later, they had arrived at Hardy and Adriana's apartment and had finished stuffing everyone's things into the large trunk. Aria and Ezra opted for the backseat while Adriana sat in the passenger seat next to Hardy. They'd all brought food to snack on and things to do to keep them distracted, but Within minutes of getting on the road, the car was rather quiet. Hardy and Adriana talked quietly in the front seat, and Ezra and Aria were the same in the back. She was seated in the middle, and Ezra had his arm wrapped around her.

Aria leaned her head on Ezra's shoulder and yawned as she draped her leg over his.

"Please tell me you didn't record that performance," Aria murmured. "I was so nervous."

Ezra chuckled, running his fingers through her hair. "Sorry. Can't promise that."

Aria groaned. Ezra laughed an kissed her forehead.

_-  
>Your life is a flashback, a question, a photograph<br>__A statement, a story, a struggle, a chance to laugh  
>- <em>

Two and a half hours later, Aria opened her eyes and yawned. Hardy had pulled into the suburbs of Queens, and stopped on a very bright street.

"We there yet?" Aria murmured.

Adriana turned around and looked at her. "Not quite yet. About ten more minutes."

Aria shifted in her seat, rolling her shoulders before she stretched her arms, being wary of Ezra. A moment later, he groaned and lifted his head up off the seat, widening his eyes as he woke up.

"Hey," he muttered, looking at Aria.

"I didn't wake you?"

Ezra shook his head and rubbed his eyes, letting out a yawn. "I always wake up after getting off the highway."

His phone started buzzing in his pocket a moment later and he pulled it out. Adriana turned to look back at them.

"It's mom," he murmured to her as he pushed the talk button. He lifted the phone up to his ear. "Hey, ma."

Aria snuggled against him, closing her eyes again for a few minutes. She listened as he told his mom that they would be there shortly, and then ended the call a few moments later.

They pulled into a driveway five minutes later, and Aria sat up straight. Ezra pulled the door open next to him and then got out, offering his hand to Aria. She took it and then followed him along with Hardy around to the back of the jeep. They each took their own bags and then headed towards the steps of a two-story white house with yellow shudders.

A short woman with dark, graying hair stepped through the screen door with a large smile on her face. She was the perfect mix of Adriana and Ezra's looks, and somehow Aria couldn't help but hope that she looked that good on the verge fifty.

She followed behind Adriana, Ezra, and Hardy as they walked up the stone steps up to the house, and kept her arms crossed as the other three stepped up to the woman and hugged her. She finally turned to Aria with the same smile on her face.

"Mom," Ezra said cheerfully. He reached up and gently slipped one of his hands into Aria's. "This is-" "Aria?" She asked.

Aria nodded slowly. Ezra squeeze Aria's hand as his mother hugged her. Aria smiled at him, though it was loaded with discomfort. He smiled back at her, mouthing _just breathe. _

She pulled back a moment later and extended a hand. "Serena Anderson."

"Formerly Fitz," Adriana said as she bumped shoulders with Aria. "At least, before the divorce."

Aria looked over at Ezra and squeezed his hand lightly as he tensed up at the mention of his father. She stepped towards him as Serena released her hand and wrapped her arm under his shoulder.

"Yes, well, dinner just came out of the oven," Serena said, switching subjects. She rubbed a hand up Ezra's arm comfortingly and then turned towards the door.

They all piled into the home, and Aria's jaw nearly dropped as she looked around. The doorway led into the family room, which extended both to the left and right. The dining room was off to the right, while the kitchen was on the left, and the stairwell was straight ahead.

"I'll get the food set out," Serena said. "You feel free to wash up."

She walked off to the kitchen and Ezra grabbed Aria's hand. He led her up the stairs, and Hardy and Adriana follow up the stairs behind them. Ezra led her to the first bedroom at the top of the stairs and pushed the door open.

Aria stepped inside behind him and looked around. There were bookshelves along two walls, but most of them were gone. The room was painted baby blue, and there was a black an silver desk in the corner. There was a full sized bed in the corner nearest to the door, covered in a black bedding set.

"This was your room?" Aria asked.

"Yeah," Ezra replied. "I took most of the books with me when I left for Hollis. I was offered a full ride at NYU, but Hollis had a better English program." "Bull," Hardy said with a laugh from the doorway. "Hollis had me."

Aria laughed as she looked over at Hardy. Adriana came up behind him and reached an arm out towards aria. "Come look at _my_ room!" Aria chuckled, letting Adriana lead her out of the room. Five feet down the hall, another bedroom door was already open. Aria could tell it was Adriana's before she even stepped inside by the tickle me pink shade. She smiled at the sight of all the band posters and personal drawings. Adriana was like her in a lot of ways.

Ezra knocked on the door as he and Hardy came to stand on either side of the framing.

"Can we go? I'm hungry." Aria and Adriana laughed at him, and then walked out of the room. They all followed each other down the steps, into the sitting room. Ezra led her into the dining room, and pulled out her chair for her. They both chuckled as Hardy and Adriana sat down next to each other.

"I hope you don't mind lasagna," Serena said as she finished cutting it into squares. "These three haven't stopped begging in days."

"It tastes like heaven," Ezra told Aria as he shifted his seat closer to hers. He entangled their fingers as Serena dished out a serving to each of them.

"These kids have been eating this since they were five. You'd think they'd be sick of it by now," Serena said with a laugh. She settled Aria's plate in front of her. "What about you? Any favourite foods?" Aria looked over at Ezra and giggled. "Outside of the fast food realm, um… linguini and muscles?"

"So you've traveled," Serena said with a chuckle. Aria nodded. "I spent last school year in Iceland."

"Reykjavik? Ezra, isn't that where you and Hardy were for a layover? Is that where you two met?"

Aria shook her head. "No, we met in Rosewood."

Once everyone had a plate of food, conversation dwindled for a bit as everyone seemed to inhale their food. Aria hadn't been lied to; the lasagna was to die for. She and Ezra split a second helping over one plate.

She stabbed her fork against his and they giggled, each cutting off a corner of the piece before taking a bite.

Serena looked over to Adriana and Hardy. "You two have been rather quiet, and I know you both better than to think you don't have anything to say. So what's going on?"

Aria and Ezra smirked at each other.

"W-well you know, mom…" Adriana stammered, settling her phone down on her plate. Hardy settled his fork down on his plate as well. He reached up to grab her hand, but Adriana pulled it down of the table just as fast.

Serena zeroed in on Adriana. "You're not one to keep secrets, Addy. What is it?"

Adriana looked over at Hardy, struggling to find the words. He shook his head and reached over to grab her hand, under the table.

"We're together," he said simply.

"Oh." Serena's reply was just as simple. Both Ezra and Adriana gaped at the fact that she seemed to accept it so easily.

"What? No flying off the handle? No going nuts?" Adriana questioned.

Serena shook her head, reaching over to grab Adriana's free hand. "Why? That would be rather favored, don't you think? After all," she said, shifting in her seat to face Ezra. "I didn't question _your_ relationship."

Ezra cowered away, shaking his head. "I told them to tell you." "And you didn't taunt her fears?" Serena asked.

"No," Ezra insisted. "Maybe Hardy's," he said with a chuckle. "But I think he earned that, sharing a dorm with me for four years."

"He's telling the truth," Adriana said. Serena turned to look back at her. She squeezed Adriana's hand.

"Then I want nothing more than for the two of you two to be happy. But," she said, turning to Hardy. "Your hurt my daughter, and then just remember, I know where you live." Hardy smiled at her, though there was a burning redness that started behind his ears and moved until it covered his entire face.

"I'm full," Aria said a few moments later. She leaned back in her chair, draping an arm across her stomach. "Oh my god, I'm so full. But that was _so_ good."

Everyone chuckled at her. Ezra dropped his fork a moment later. "I'm good too."

Hardy looked down at his watch. "I have to run across town for an hour. My brother is trying to clear out his basement, and he has some things of mine." He pushed up from his seat and then kissed Adriana's head before grabbing his sweatshirt off the back of the chair. "I'll be back."

He waved to them and then walked out of the house.

"I'll help you get everything put away," Ezra said to Serena as he got up from his seat.

"And Aria and I can have girl time!" Adriana said cheerfully.

Aria chuckled and pushed up out of her seat, following Adriana out of the room. They charged up the stairs and into Adriana's room. Unlike Ezra's black bedding, Adriana's was covered in a multicolored striped duvet. She also had a light purple suede chair nearby.

"Your room is so cute," Aria said as she followed Adriana over to the bed. "I'm almost ashamed to admit my room at my parents looks more like Ezra's." Adriana giggled, shaking her head. "You're bookworms. I wouldn't expect anything less."

"You accept him and me so easily. I don't understand it."

Adriana shrugged. "Maybe you're not supposed to. All I knew, when he came to me and told me about you, as that you made him happy. And I hated Jackie. I know Ezra loved her, but for whatever reason, I'll never understand. She was cruel to people in his life, and she tried to control him. Their relationship ending was the best thing that ever happened to him."

"I like to think so," Aria chuckled. "But what about you and Hardy? How did that happen?"

Adriana smiled, picking at her fingernails. "Gradually. I mean, I knew Hardy from the time I started high school. He used to make me nuts, because I knew how he was with girls, and it made me sick, you know?" Aria nodded. "I know a few boys like that." "Well, when I started at Hollis this year, things changed. He kept telling me he liked me, and that he always had. I let him take me on a date, an one led to two, led to twenty…" She laughed. "There's nothing better than falling in love with a friend."

_-  
>If you love somebody<br>__You've gotta love them all the same  
>- <em>

Ezra settled on the porch outside of the house, holding a glass of scotch in his hand. He rarely drank alcohol outside of work events or things of the like, and he hadn't had any since Aria had started staying with him. Of course, staying at his mothers always stirred up old memories.

She walked out onto the porch and sat down next to him. She held a glass of wine in her own hand.

"Your father always did enjoy his scotch," she murmured.

"Don't tell me that," Ezra replied.

Serena placed her hand on Ezra's shoulder. "Your father is long gone. Don't let what he did bug you." "And yet Adriana still carries a torch for him," Ezra replied.

"She was six, Ezra. She didn't understand why we were getting divorced. And I know there's not a day that goes by that you aren't thankful that he didn't hurt her too," Serena said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I am. But how can a girl who hasn't seen her father in fifteen years still think he's the greatest thing on this planet? And how can you **continue** to let her believe those things?"

"Ezra, do you really want to take that away from her? I'm not saying its right, but she's had a hard enough time growing up without a father. Do you really want us to take away the little bit she _does _have of him?" "Mom? Z?"

They both turned to see Adriana standing in the doorway. She pushed the door open and walked out onto the steps, and sat down on the other side of Serena.

"You're not taking _anything_ away," she murmured.

"What do you mean sweetie?" Serena asked.

Adriana shook her head, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "I remember dad. How he was with you and Ezra." She leaned forward and looked at Ezra. "But he was still our father. Good or bad, he's half of our DNA. I'm not proud of what he did before the divorce, but I still care."

"Would you feel the same way if _you _were the one he was calling stupid and hitting all the time?" Ezra asked.

Adriana shrugged. "I don't know, Z. I just don't want you to think I'm as in the dark as I seem." Ezra sighed and took a long drink from his scotch. "Well, I'm gonna go find my girlfriend."

He pushed up from the stairs and walked back into the house. He settled his unfinished glass on the dining room table and then walked back to the stairs and climbed them. As he reached the top of the steps, he overheard Aria ending a phone conversation.

He walked into his room and she looked up at him, smiling.

"Hey. Who was that?" Aria settled her phone on the nightstand. "Spencer. Apparently I got second place. She wanted to tell me." Ezra smiled at her. "Good. You deserve it. I think you should've gotten first." "Never would've happened," Aria chuckled. "It was only me up on that stage. And you're playing favouritism."

"Maybe so," Ezra said with a laugh. He sat down next to her on the bed. "I'm glad you came with me."

Aria smiled at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she moved into his lap. "Glad to be here with you."

"You tired?" He asked.

"Very!" Aria dropped her head onto his shoulder and yawned. Ezra chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"Then lets get some sleep. I'm sure Adriana will be leading you all over Manhattan tomorrow. God help us if she drags us into Times Square. Tomorrow night is going to be crazy enough."

"Why?" Aria asked, her brow furrowing.

Ezra shook his head. "Didn't you know? Sunday is Adriana's birthday. We always go to the theatre for her birthday."

"Ezra, I-" "Shh," he told her. "Don't worry about anything. She _wanted_ you to come for this."

"But I don't have anything to wear," she murmured.

He shrugged. "We'll find you something. I just want you to have a good time."

"You're crazy, you know that?"

Ezra shrugged. "If I am, so are you."

"For you," Aria replied. "I'll be anything."


	19. New York's Best Kept Secret

**A/N: M Rated situations towards the end. You've been warned. **

_Chapter 18_

_New York's Best Kept Secret_

Aria awoke to the scent of bacon and coffee filling her nostrils, and for a moment she was bewildered enough that she thought she was at home with her parents. However, as the settings around her became more clear, she realized that she wasn't there, _or_ at her apartment that she shared with Ezra. After a few moments, her memories of the night before began to flood back, and she realized that she was at Ezra's mother's house.

Unconsciously pulled towards the scent that would grant her the first daily dose of caffeine, she tossed the blanket off of her and moved across the room to the suitcase that housed both her and Ezra's clothes for the weekend. She pulled out a pair of sweatpants and slipped them on before walking out of the room. She looked back and forth down the hall.

Adriana opened her bedroom door and stepped out. She had on a pair of grey pajama shorts and a loose Ramones t-shirt. She smiled at Aria.

"Hey. Sleep okay?"

Aria nodded slowly, though her eyes downcast quickly. She and Ezra had heard Adriana and Hardy going at it the night before.

_Ezra turned his head to look down at Aria as she brushed her fingers absentmindedly through his hair. She smiled up at him and pecked him on the lips. They'd been lying there for more than an hour, mostly just enjoying each other's company. _

_Giggles filled the hallway, and a moment later a door was closed. Something hit the floor loudly and then they could hear Adriana giggling. _

"_Oh good lord," Ezra murmured. "This is __**why**__ we're never letting those two stay with us." _

_Aria giggled, snuggling her body up against his. "Just ignore it." _

"_Normally I __**could**__," Ezra insisted. "But my little sister is in the next room about to have sex with a guy I know brought more than fifty girls back to our dorm in college." _

_Aria shook her head. She nuzzled her face into his neck. She sucked gently against the spot on his nck just below his ear as she brushed his hand gently under Ezra's shirt. He groaned. _

"_That doesn't help __**at all**__?" Aria asked teasingly. _

_Ezra turned his head down to her and captured her lips in his own. _

"Something wrong?" Adriana asked as she walked down the steps behind Aria. Aria just shook her head in response. If she didn't say anything, then what did it matter? She didn't want to be the one to break it to Adriana that she and Ezra had heard she and Hardy loud and clear the night before.

They walked into the dining room and Aria looked around curiously. Hardy was settled at the table with a book in his hand while Serena was telling him about something that had been on the news earlier that morning. Adriana walked over to the chair next to Hardy and sat down.

"Where's Ezra?" Aria asked.

Serena gestured to the chair that Aria had sat in the night before. "Sit, dear. He just ran out to grab coffee filters and what he referred to as _real _coffee. Speaking of which, can I get you anything to drink? Milk? Water? Orange juice?"

Aria shrugged as she started settling slices of bacon and toast on her plate. "S-sure. Orange juice is okay."

"I trust you slept alright," Serena said as she got up from her seat. She crossed the small walkway under the stairs into the kitchen and walked over to the fridge. She pulled it open and then grabbed the bottle of orange juice before she walked back into the dining room. She filled the empty glass next to Aria's plate with juice and then turned to Adriana and Hardy.

"More juice, Hardy? Addy?"

Aria chewed on a piece of bacon as she watched the three of them talk about the day to come. Adriana wanted to spend most of it in the city shopping, but there had to be enough time to get back and change before the show.

"I don't have anything for the theatre," Aria murmured as Adriana started talking about what they could wear.

Adriana just waved her hand dismissively. "I've got plenty. You can take whatever you want."

"What about taking clothes?" Aria smiled cheerfully and looked towards the doorway as Ezra came around it. He was carrying a tray with coffees in one hand and several grocery bags in another. He settled the tray on the end of the table and then handed over the bags to Serena as she came to the end of the table.

"Thank you, dear." Serena headed into the kitchen and then Ezra moved to his chair and pulled two cups out and handed them to Aria.

"White chocoate mocha, fresh from the starbucks two blocks away." Aria widened her eyes and smiled at him, taking one of the cups from him. "You **do** love me!"

Ezra chuckled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I would've taken you with me, but you seemed pretty restless last night. I figured if you were sleeping soundly, then I should probably just leave you to it. Figured I'd be back before you woke."

Aria shrugged, leaning over to kiss his cheek. Ezra turned his head towards her and kissed her quickly. He turned back to the table a moment later and started filling his plate with food. Aria giggled, seeing the rather dark hickey she'd left on his neck.

Ezra looked over at her with narrowed eyes as he picked up a piece of bacon. "I _saw_ that in the mirror this morning. Not what I expected to find when I was shaving."

Aria just smiled at him.

_-  
>Your tear me down and I break,<br>__And I break, and I break  
>- <em>

Two hours later, Aria was feeling something akin to overwhelmed and amazement as she stood in times square with Ezra, Adriana, and Hardy. She was dressed in a green bomber jacket and a hip hugging black t-shirt long with blue skinny jeans and her typical choice of knee-high boots. Ezra was standing next to her in a black sweater and black jeans.

"There really isn't anything like New York City," he said to her as he handed her a cup of Starbucks signature hot chocolate. It was her third cup that day, but she was happy to have it, as her hands weren't staying very warm in the cool spring air. That was typical May in the north, though. One day the sun could be shining and be eighty degrees, and the next it could be forty and freezing.

"You can say that again," Aria said as she lifted up her phone and snapped a photo of Adriana and Hardy a few feet away, giggling. She lowered her phone as it buzzed in her hand. At the same time, Ezra's did. They both looked up at each other, and then opened their messages.

"Video attached," he said curiously. He clicked on the attachment and then smirked as it opened.

Aria had the same message, though she quickly closed it and dove for Ezra's phone when she realized it was the video Hanna had shot the night before.

"Hardy, Dre! Come look at this!"

The two walked up carrying their own cups of coffee, and looked over either of Ezra's shoulders as he struggled to keep his phone out of Aria's reach.

"C'mon!" She whined. "It was stupid. I never should've done it."

Adriana shook her head, looking up at Aria. "This song is _good! _What makes you think it's stupid?"

Aria shook her head, stuffing her own phone in her pocket. "It's not the song that I think is stupid. I just shouldn't have done the stupid contest. Most of the school hates me as it is." "That's only because ninety percent of them don't know how to think for themselves," Adriana said matter-of-factly. "When they look back five years from now, they'll realize just how stupid **they** all were being, and then maybe they'll all wake up. No one realizes just how bad bullying is until they're older. Anyway, don't think about it! We need to go over to H&M and spend loads of money on jeans that should require the bequeathing of a kidney!"

Aria chuckled, letting Adriana pull her out of the throng of people, though she had her hand tightly wrapped around Ezra's forearm. He lurched as she pulled him and stumbled toward them, tucking his own phone into his pocket as they walked down the street. Hardy appeared at Adriana's side a moment later and wrapped his arm around her, while Ezra grasped Aria's hand in his own.

They walked through the crowds and then finally made their way onto a sidewalk as they continued their trek through the city. Finally after what felt like forever, Adriana pulled Aria into the store, and they headed towards off in a different direction than the boys. They browsed the shelves for several minutes before Adriana looked up at her.

"Can I ask you something?"

Aria nodded, taking her attention off a pair of red Versace jeans to look up at Adriana. "Of course."

"You don't feel like Ezra and I dragged you here with us this weekend, right? I mean, I wanted you to come, and I know he did too, but I hope you don't feel like you _had_ to be here," Adriana said.

"No!" Aria insisted. "I wanted to come. I mean it only seems right. Ezra knows my family. Why shouldn't I know his?"

Adriana smiled at her. "Good. I just…I know he said to me earlier that you didn't know about the whole thing with the theatre, and he said that's something you used to do with your parents and everything. I just don't want you feeling pressured into going with us, especially if it upsets you. I know how hard it is for you…" "I'm happy to do whatever makes you guys happy," Aria said reassuringly.

Adriana shook her head at Aria. "That's really sweet, but I'd rather you did something that made _you_ happy. Even if its just you and Ezra alone for the night at the house. He says your both kind of homebodies as it is."

Aria chuckled, pulling out a pair of jeans off a rack. "I'm not sure we intended to stay that way. It just kind of happened, when we were having to sneak around all the time and not being able to be seen in public, you know."

"Well even so," Adriana insisted. "I want you to come if you want to. But if you'd rather stay in, then that's alright. I know Ezra can sometimes want to avoid places when it reminds him of stuff with our dad."

Aria nodded, giving her a sad smile. She knew that he'd been through hell with his father before Serena had divorced him.

They continued to shop throughout the afternoon before eventually heading back to Ezra's mother's house. Aria was still undecided about the evening to come, though she felt bad that she was even wavering on it to begin with.

Her body quickly took the choice from her though, as Adriana was coming out of the shower early in the evening. She hadn't been feeling well since lunch, but she had drummed it up to being nervous and feeling about the evenings plans. Instead, she found herself on the bathroom floor on the second floor of the home, clinging to the toilet.

Ezra sat down behind her, rubbing his hand down her back. "Hey," he murmured. "You okay?" Aria shrugged, wiping the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "I felt funky after lunch, but I thought it was just because I was being indifferent." Ezra exhaled a long breath and placed his hand against her forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever. Probably something in lunch that didn't agree with you. Why don't we just stay in for the night."

Aria frowned. "I don't to keep you from going out with your family. Adriana…" Ezra shook his head. "Adriana will be happy whether I'm there or not. And you're my family too, Aria. I would **never** leave you alone when you're feeling ill. We can stay in and order in if you start to feel better.

Adriana came to the doorway and leaned against it. She was wrapped up in a baby blue housecoat. "Are you okay? I saw you come running in here." "She's just not feeling well," Ezra said dismissively.

"Aww." Adriana pouted for a moment. "Well I hope you feel better!"

_-  
>You're not the only one walking round<br>__With a loaded gun, this little girl is capable of murder  
>- <em>

Aria yawned as she sat up on the couch. She had fallen asleep some time before Adriana, Hardy, and Serena had left for the show, having been exhausted from all the shopping and then having gotten sick.

She looked around the sitting room, only to be bewildered by the fact that Ezra was nowhere to be found. She didn't hear any noise coming from the second floor of the house, either.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed up off the couch and walked over to the window in the sitting room that gave a view of the driveway. She pushed back the curtain. Serena's car was in the driveway, which meant that he couldn't have left.

She was becoming more and more curious by the moment as she let the curtain fall out of her hand. She looked around the room and then walked over to the stairs and climbed them. When she reached the top landing, she walked over to Ezra's room and turned the light on. Still nothing. His bed was empty, but made. Their suitcase still lay on the floor from when she had changed into a pair of sweats after getting sick.

She crossed her arms with a frustrated feeling and leaned against the door frame.

"Looking for me?" Aria jumped, quickly unfurling her arms as she spun in her spot. Ezra was standing a few feet away, holding a candle by it's holder.

"What's with the mystery theme?" Aria questioned.

Ezra shrugged. "You were asleep. It left me some time to do some planning."

Aria raised an eyebrow at him. "Planning." He nodded, extending his free hand to her. Aria was still curious, so she took his hand and let him lead her down the hall. They passed by his mother's room, and turned down the corner at the end of the hall. Aria hadn't been down here yet. There was only one room, which she'd assumed to be a linen closet of some sort.

She sucked in a deep breath as they walked into the room. There were candles lit everywhere, and a fireplace in the corner. She'd seen a chimney when she'd first come in the house the day before, but she had figured it was jus for show. There were also take-out boxes on a low table that had yet to be opened.

"Ezra…" "Just because we didn't go out doesn't mean we can't have some fun," he said to her. He led her over to a spot where blankets were laid out on the floor near the fireplace. Aria sat down and then watched as Ezra settled the candle on the top of the mantle over the fireplace. She looked around the room.

"What _is_ this room?"

Ezra settled in front of her and handed her several takeout containers. "We used to use it for sleepovers, or if it got really cold in the winter, we'd sleep in here because of the fireplace. When my parents were still married, they said it was too small for a bedroom, so it was just kind of left here. It's comfortable in here, though. I always liked it." Aria smiled, pulling open one of the containers Ezra had given her. It was filled with chow mein.

"Did you have fun today?" Ezra asked as he shoved a forkful of rice into his mouth.

Aria nodded, chewing on the noodles she'd just shoved into her mouth. "It's always so amazing, every time I'm here, no matter what the season. It's so beautiful, and people are just so…I don't know. It's different. It's definitely a difference that I like."

Ezra smiled. They continued to eat their food while Aria took in the ambiance of the room. After she had eaten a generous portion from the carton, she settled it on the table and grabbed Ezra's carton and settled it on the table as well. She smirked at him and moved onto her knees, crawling over to him.

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her. "Feeling adventurous, are we?"

Aria shrugged, snaking her hands down to the hem of his t-shirt. "Maybe." She gently slipped her fingers under it, roaming her hands up his hips to his ribs. Ezra pulled her head down to his and sucked her bottom lip. He nibbled on it for a moment before their kissing became more violent, arguing for dominance with their tongues.

Ezra pulled her closer to him as Aria pushed her hands up to his chest, so that her legs were straddling his waist. He lifted his arms up and pulled away from her long enough to let her pull his shirt off. Once it was off his body, he wasted no time, pulling her own shirt up and off of her.

Ezra rubbed his hands up her back, pulling her up against him so that they were bare chest to bare chest as he pressed his lips to her shoulder, biting down gently. Aria groaned, dropping her head back for a moment as she reached down between them and pulled on his belt buckle. She pulled it free from its clip and then pushed either piece away from his body, reaching for the button to his jeans.

She unzipped his jeans and then slipped her hand down inside of his boxers. Ezra groaned, dropping back against the floor as he shuddered against her touch. Aria smirked and leaned up further, pressing her lips against his chin as she wrapped her hand around he base of his growing erection.

"Oh god- Aria…"

She began to stroke him, causing Ezra to become more turned on by the second and increasingly uncomfortable from the confines of his boxers.

Aria began to trail kisses down his neck, nibbling here and there as she moved down his body. When she reached his waist, she released her grip on his erection and moved her hands to waistband of his boxers and jeans. She pulled them down off his hips and then tossed them aside, careful to be wary of candles. Once they were gone, she wrapped her hand around his erection again, squeezing him. She leaned down and brushed her tongue over his tip. Ezra juddered, squeezing the blankets under them tightly in his fists.

"Aria-" "Shh," she whispered teasingly as she looked up at him. She moved her hands to his hips and leaned down. She took as much of his penis into her mouth as she could, and sucked gently on him as she began to move up and down. Ezra moaned gutturally and moved his hands into her hair and moved her head up and down as he treaded closer to his climax. Aria's lips tightened around him and he dug his fingernails into her scalp, rising his hips up off the floor. He pressed her head down and bottomed out into her throat. Aria gagged and tried to push away for a moment. She relaxed a moment later, and calmed as her body accommodated him.

"Fuck!"

Aria moved one of her hands back to the base of his erection and began stroking him quickly and roughly as she sucked on him. Ezra moved against her with equal vigor, and a few moments later, he reached his climax. Aria took him deep into her throat again and swallowed his ejaculation.

As she came up off of him, she smiled at him and brushed the corners of her mouth with the back of her hand. Ezra pushed up off the floor and pinned her down on her back within seconds. He moved his hands down to her hips and yanked forcefully on her sweats and panties. Aria pulled her legs up, kicking her feet free. Once Ezra tossed them aside, he gripped her hips and yanked her down further on the blankets. He pinned her arms above her head, interlacing their fingers as he ground his hips against hers. Aria leaned up and kissed him, brushing her tongue against his.

Ezra pushed his tongue into her mouth, massaging her tongue with his own, but only for a brief moment. He pulled away a few seconds later and trailed kisses down her body. He had such admiration for seeing her in moments like this, when there was absolutely nothing between them. Seeing her completely bare, in the most vulnerable position.

He reached her pelvic bone and pushed her legs apart. In the same swift movement, he moved a hand between her legs and shoved two fingers inside of her as his thumb pushed up against her clitoris. Aria jumped at the sudden intrusion, raising her hips up off the floor. Suddenly it was her own hands that were gripping the blankets as Ezra leaned down and placed wet kisses along the inside of her pelvic bone. Aria grunted, straining to meet his movements.

Ezra removed his thumb from her clitoris as she shifted below her and leaned down to take it in his mouth. Aria squealed and her legs began to shake from her own building orgasm.

"Ezra-..I-..Oh God…"

He quickened the movements of his fingers and curled them up inside of her, pressing them hard up against her g-spot. Aria screamed as her nails dug into her palms. She moved her hips against the movement of his hand, and quickly tumbled over the edge into her climax.

Ezra continued the movement of his fingers, though he slowed them as he trailed kisses back up her body. Aria dug her fingers into his curls and pressed a hard, fervent kiss to his lips as he finally reached her a few seconds later.

"My name isn't God, but you can call me that if you'd like," he said teasingly.

Aria giggled, reaching for his jeans a few inches away. She dug into the pocket and pulled out Ezra's wallet. She opened it up and pulled a fresh condom out of one of the slots. She tore the wrapper open and then moved her hands down between them and rolled it down onto his freshly hardened penis.

Aria sat up and pushed him backwards and then straddled his hips again. She gripped him in her hand long enough to center him below her, before she began to lower down onto his penis. She rested her hands on his shoulders as she gently rocked back and forth. Her muscles were still tight from her orgasm, which was making her body hug against him like a glove, and every nerve was on end as she came down on him.

Finally he filled her completely, and she let out a long sigh. Ezra grasped her hips and began to move her up and down on top of him as she continued to roll her hips back and forth. He trailed his lips along her neck as her soft mewls of pleasure grew into cries. Her nails dug into his shoulders as their movements changed from languid to rough and determined. Ezra squeezed her hips tightly in his hands as he brought her down harder and harder each time, as they cried into each others mouths.

Needing more movement, he flipped them over and moved his hands off her hips and pulled her hands from his shoulders. He held her hands in his own as he thrust deeper inside of her, giving in to reckless abandon. Aria's walls began to spasm around him, and he knew they were done for. She cried out, and he thrust his hips against hers several more times before meeting his own fate. Tapped of energy, he slowly pulled out of her and laid down next to her.

They lay side by side for several minutes, each trying to catch their breath. Aria moved her fingers down his arm until she found his hand, and slipped her fingers between his. She turned her head towards him and looked up at him through lidded eyes.

"_Damn." _She giggled breathlessly.

Ezra chuckled, opening his eyes as he pulled the condom off of him and tossing into an empty bag nearby that had originally held their dinner. He looked over at her. "Worth the night in?"

Aria nodded, turning to rest her head against his chest. She traced idle circles in the middle of his chest as they laid next to each other on the floor. When Ezra gathered enough energy, he snatched a blanket folded up nearby and covered them up before wrapping his arm around her.

The fire continued to crackle in the fireplace as they laid in silence. Somewhere on the second floor, a door slammed shut, and they exchanged a look, wondering if anyone had heard them. Then Aria recalled the night before with Hardy and Adriana, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Ezra murmured. As usual, he was running his fingers through her hair.

"I was just thinking about how this morning, I felt all awkward when I first saw Adriana, because I didn't want her to know we had heard them last night."

"Ooh," Ezra said softy. "Well I won't lie. I was planning part of this as payback to them." Aria laughed. "Torturing your sister by making her aware that you're having sex in the next room?" She paused for a moment. "Actually, now that I think about it, if I knew Mike was sleeping with some girl in the next room, I might be grossed out, too." "See?" Ezra told her. "And just imagine if it were Hanna or Spencer."

Aria giggled, but she also couldn't stop the gag that filled her throat from the thought. The idea of her brother hooking up with her friends sickened her It just didn't seem right, in any context.

"**Please** don't suggest such a thing," she said with a laugh. "I know Mike has had a thing for Hanna for years. The last thing I need is for that to turn into something. Besides, Hanna and Spencer are happily dating. And Emily is very sure of her sexuality." "Oh c'mon," Ezra teased. "You don't think Mike is the one boy she'd turn straight for?"

They both laughed, and the subject was quickly dismissed, leaving them once again to lie there in silence. After a bit, Aria turned over and rested her chin on her hands as she crossed them over his chest. "Wanna have a little more fun?" She teased.

Ezra raised an eyebrow at her. "After what we just did? What exactly did you have in mind?"

Aria giggled. "Nothing more _adventurous _than what we've already done. But if you're all for getting back at Hardy and Adriana, then I'm more than willing to entice it." Ezra laughed and pulled her up into his lap as he leaned down to kiss her on the lips. In moments, his tongue was upon hers, and Aria had her hands running through his hair yet again. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, holding her against him.

"Aren't you tired?" He asked after a few moments.

Aria shrugged. "Sex releases endorphins and dopamine. Makes for a very happy person. I would've thought a college graduate like you would know things like this." Ezra's eyes widened at her insult, and within moments, he had her pinned to the floor with his left hand holding both her arms high above her head as his right hand traveled along her ribcage and pelvic bone, tickling her as hard as he could. Aria squealed, giggled, and squirmed as she struggled to get free of his grasp.

"I'm…S-sorry! Uncle!"

Ezra laughed, watching her continue to writhe under him as he moved his hand up to her armpit and tickled the skin here as well, amused by her belief that such a cheap answer would end this. Aria screamed and squirmed even more, trying to get her wrist free from his grasp.

"Tell me I'm smart," he taunted.

"You're brilliant!" She screamed, giggling.

"Say I'm the best."

"You're the best," she cried out breathlessly. Ezra slowly released his grasp on her hands and Aria moved them around his neck. She pulled him down and kissed him.

"In bed," she murmured. She kissed him again. "And everywhere else."

Ezra lowered down gently against her and Aria wrapped her legs in his, sucking softly on his tongue as he slipped it inside her mouth. A brief kiss turned heated quickly, though. A few minutes later, he pushed up from her on one elbow, taking in large gasps of air. He looked down and then back up at her.

"You've created a problem," he murmured softly.

Aria brought his lips back down to hers and kissed him softly, teasing his tongue back into her mouth. Yet again Ezra pulled away a bit later, gasping for air.

"One I'm more than happy to solve," Aria murmured as she reached for his wallet again…


	20. I'm The Scene You're The Director

**A/N: **Okay we ALL know I'm never one to update every day. However, this chapter comes to you because of some really good and amazing friends over on Twitter BEGGING me for the whole story. Now, while I didn't cave... I did say I'd update today. Also, I'll be posting the link on my page in a few minutes, but I posted a teaser on my tumblr yesterday from chapter 26.

Anyhow...I hope you enjoy!

_Chapter 19_

_I'm The Scene, You're The Director_

Aria sighed as her eyes opened to the brightness of the morning. There weren't any curtains on the window across the room, and the blinds were doing little to keep the May sunlight from streaming through the windows. She slowly lifted her head up and realized she was still lying on top of Ezra's chest. Their legs were still tangled among each others as well.

She let out a groan as she moved off of him and scrambled for her clothes. She felt sick at the layer of sweat that had matted to her body after they had fallen asleep, and she wanted nothing more than a nice, hot shower.

She snatched her sweatpants from the floor and pulled them on and then grabbed Ezra's t-shirt and slipped it over her head before she shook his shoulder. He groaned and pushed her hand away.

"Fine. Lay here alone. I'm going to take a shower."

Aria pushed herself up to her feet, in time for Ezra to finally sit up. He scowled at the bright light streaming from the window and looked over towards the fireplace. The embers barely had any light left to them, and the fire had long since died away.

Ezra reached for his boxers as he stood and pulled them on. "What time is it?" Aria picked up his phone from the table and brought up the LED screen. "Six forty-five." She extended her arms and stretched, groaning as she bent backwards. Ezra made some of the same movements and Aria grimaced as his bones popped.

"That is _so_ gross."

Ezra chuckled, shaking his head at her. "Go jump in the shower. I'll get this cleaned up and then jump in after you're finished."

Aria pecked him quickly on the cheek and then walked out of the room. She walked down the hall to his room and pulled clothes from the suitcase. She settled on a black dress and matching tights, and then walked out of the room, over to the bathroom. Fortunately the linen closet was in the bathroom, so Aria didn't have to hunt down a towel.

She grabbed a towel and a washcloth from inside of it and then turned on the water in the shower before pulling up the drain stop. She switched the water up to run the shower and then slipped out of her clothing and stepped under the spray. She groaned as the water slapped against her skin and welcomed the heat warming her bones. Sleeping on the floor had been far from comfortable.

Once she was thoroughly wet and her hair was soaked through, she reached up for the shampoo. Judging by the fact that it was strawberry scented, she assumed it was Adriana's. She poured a generous portion into her hand and then lathered it into her hair, massaging her scalp for several minutes before she stepped back under the spray. Once the shampoo was rinsed away, she grabbed the conditioner and rubbed it from root to tip. She stepped back under the water again and rubbed her head and her hair until all of the conditioner had been washed away as well.

She filled her washcloth with body wash and then rubbed it together for a moment before she rested the cloth against her body and rubbed it up and down against her skin. She finished washing up and then turned off the shower and got out.

She grabbed a towel from the linen closet as she stepped out of the shower and rubbed herself down with it before she dried her hair and then clipped it up. She tossed the towel aside and pulled on her clothes, making sure the dress was straight on her body. She pulled the clip from her hair and set it aside before walking out of the bathroom and back to Ezra's room. He was perched in front of the suitcase in a fresh pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He turned around to look at her as she walked over and grabbed her makeup bag from inside the suitcase.

"You look nice."

Aria smiled at him. "Thank you."

He stood up, holding a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved hunter green v-neck. "I'm going to jump in the shower. I'll be out in a few minutes. My mom is already up though, so…" Aria nodded. She shoved him towards the doorway. "Go get washed up."

Ezra walked out of the room and Aria walked over to the desk. She settled her makeup bag on top of it and opened it up. There was a small mirror resting up against the wall, that she assumed used to be hung up somewhere.

She applied a moderate amount of makeup and then settled all of the utensils back in the bag and placed it back the suitcase . She grabbed her hairbrush and ran it through her hair until all the tangles were out and then tossed that back in the suitcase as well, grabbed her purse, and walked out of the room. As she passed by the bathroom, she heard the shower turn off.

She walked down the steps and made her way towards the dining room. Serena was seated at the table with a book. She looked up at Aria and smiled.

"Bit early, isn't it, dear?" She asked with a smile.

Aria shrugged. "I guess my body is attuned to being awake at this time."

Serena nodded. She closed her book and settled it on the table, gesturing to a chair for Aria to sit. "My children seem to be like that as well. I've seen Ezra fall asleep at 3 AM and be awake at 7, in time to leave for school." Aria chuckled. "He did that last weekend." She moved to the chair that Serena had gestured to and settled her purse in the chair next to it.

Serena nodded again. She pushed up from the table and grabbed the pot of coffee from the heating base and poured more into her cup. "Can I get you anything to drink?" "Some coffee would be great," Aria replied.

Serena grabbed a cup from under the cabinet that the percolator rested on and filled it as well. She placed the coffee pot back on the heating base and settled Aria's cup in front of her, grabbing the tray that held the creamer and sugar. She settled it on the table and then sat back down next to Aria.

"I'm glad to have this time to speak with you," Serena said. "My children certainly don't tell me as much as they used to, but they both told me about how your parents have been, since you told them about your relationship with my son."

"I never wanted anyone to get hurt; especially Ezra." Aria said.

Serena added creamer to her cup of coffee and then stirred it in with the spoon resting inside her cup. "I can't lie. If my daughter had come home in her junior year and told me she was dating someone who used to be her teacher, I would be less than excited. I can't necessarily make the argument that I wouldn't be angry, either. Though, I don't agree with the idea of kicking a child out of the home or refusing to speak to them."

Aria stared down into her cup of coffee as she cupped her hands around it. "Yeah, well my parents are less than enthusiastic that I haven't suddenly realized that they're right and I'm wrong."

Serena smiled. She reached out and patted Aria's hand. "Maybe you're not supposed to. I've always been a proponent for believing in the idea that whatever's meant to happen, will."

Aria forced a smile and nodded at Serena. She brought the cup of coffee to her lips and took a sip. She snatched a napkin off the table as she coughed. The coffee was at least ten times stronger than what she was used to.

"I'm so sorry," Serena insisted, though she chuckled. Aria smiled at her as she pulled the napkin away from her mouth. "Not one for strong coffee?" Aria giggled, shaking her head. "I thought my best friend Spencer's coffee was strong. This takes it to a whole new level."

She pushed up from her seat and walked around the table to where the wastepaper bin was, and tossed away the wet napkins. As she walked back around the table, Ezra came into the dining room.

"Morning, dear. Coffee?" Serena asked.

Ezra chuckled. "I heard Aria as I was coming down. I think I'll walk up to Village and get some there." He turned to Aria. "Want to come. Its got coffee that will rival Retta's, I swear. "

Aria smiled, curious as to if he was right. "Why not?"

She pushed back from the table and grabbed her purse, and then walked into the sitting room. She followed Ezra over to the doorway, where everyone's shoes were lined up. Her boots laid on their sides. She slipped her feet into them and then zipped them up while he pulled on his sneakers. She slung the shoulder strap of her purse over her and then followed him out of the house.

Ezra wrapped his arm around her as they walked out onto the street and headed in the direction of the coffee shop.

"I like it here," Aria murmured as she slipped her arm around him. "I like not feeling like people are judging us every second of the day. And I like your mom." Ezra chuckled. "I like my mom too." Things were quiet for a few minutes as they continued to walk. Ezra looked down at her as they crossed through a crosswalk.

"So is New York where you want to be, when you're done at Rosewood?"

Aria shrugged, looking up at him. "I don't know. Maybe. I mean I love being in the city. And New York is…Well, it's New York. There's really nothing like it. All I know is that when I'm surrounded by people who aren't looking us like we're crazy because of how we feel, _I_ feel better."

"I hate that it hurts you so much. What other people think."

Aria exhaled a long sigh. "To be honest, I wish I didn't care. I wish it didn't bother me when people are saying things, and that I could just let it brush off. And it seems like the more I _try_ to do that, the worse it gets."

"Then maybe the best thing right now is to stop trying to not care. My mom would tell you that if you can't stop caring, then maybe you're not supposed to. 'There's always a learning curve.' That's what she used to say." Ezra chuckled.

"But it's summer in a few weeks," Aria feigned a whine. "Learning is supposed to end at the beginning of June and cease for three months! Its all review now."

Ezra laughed. "I promise you won't have to study for this test."

Aria giggled, rolling her eyes as they walked into a coffee shop called The Village. Ezra walked over to the counter, pulling his arm down from around her and letting his hand drift down into hers. He walked up to the counter and browsed the menu.

Aria looked it over as well. They had a wider selection than what she was used to. Even so, she was already sure of what she wanted. The people ahead of them stepped away from the counter, and they both stepped forward.

"What can I get you two?"

"Java chip frappe for me," Ezra said as he dug into his pocket. He looked towards Aria.

"Iced Mocha," she said.

"Both large," Ezra said as he pulled a ten dollar bill from his wallet. He moved his hand back into Aria's once he'd placed the bill on the counter and tucked his wallet back into his pocket. He looked down at Aria and then over her head. "There's bookshelves over there."

Aria spun around and looked over in the direction that Ezra was referring to. Rows of books were lined up on shelves. Some were showing their spines. Others were faced out by their covers. She gently released his hand and walked over to the bookshelves.

Ezra left her to it, and turned his attention back to the cashier. He waited until the coffee had been placed on the counter and then grabbed both cups and walked over to Aria. She was flipping through one of the books.

"Find something that fancies your interest?" He leaned into her, handing her the coffee she'd ordered.

Aria took it from him, placing the book back on the shelf. "Not really." She turned around to face him. "So this is your favourite hangout?"

Ezra chuckled. "Yeah. Back in the days of high school and summer jobs, this was where I spent all my free time. And my money."

Aria giggled, settling down onto a chaise lounge. Ezra sat down next to her.

"I love this city," she said with a sigh. The place was pretty much empty except for the cashier, another couple across the café settled at a table. "The people, the places…The fact that _you_ love it." Ezra smiled, brushing his free hand up her back. "It's New York. It's kind of hard _not_ to love it."

"It's more than that, though," Aria insisted. "I mean when we were in Times Square yesterday, it felt like there wasn't any safer place."

Ezra laughed. "Times Square made you feel safe? There were like three thousand people there."

"I love being here with _you_. Its **you** that makes me feel safe." Aria said. She blushed and shook her head. "I love being everywhere with you. Whether its in Rosewood, where everyone judges us, or somewhere that no one knows us at all. I don't know why, but ever since that very first day, even when nothing else did, this has _always_ made sense."

"Somehow, I feel like I've _given_ this speech before." Aria laughed softly and shook her head, closing her eyes. She remembered word for word, the conversation that they had shared the first time he had nearly ended their relationship after she'd met Hardy. It felt a little ironic to her that the person who had nearly been the cause for their demise, was the very same person they were spending a weekend with in New York.

"So tell me _Mr. Fitz_. Do you believe in fate?" Aria pushed her chin out, looking up at him curiously.

Ezra smirked. "I believe that life is what you make it. And sometimes it takes you by surprise."

_-  
>Didn't I, baby, treat you right<br>__And I watch the rain, it makes us pure again  
>- <em>

Aria sighed as she settled the last of the bags in the back of Hardy's jeep. Adriana stood next to her in a typical jeans and loose tank top ensemble, matched with a pair of combat boots. She stuffed several bags filled new clothes on the top of all the other bags and then reached up and pulled the trunk shut with a satisfied sigh.

"Did you have a good weekend," Aria asked. She had on one of Ezra's sweatshirts, and she pulled it tighter around herself as the wind blew.

Adriana nodded, smiling happily. "It was a lot better than I even anticipated it could be. I hope you had a good time."

Aria nodded, smiling at her. "I did."

Ezra and Hardy walked over to them and Hardy slipped his arms around Adriana's waist.

"Alright, ladies. Are we set to go? Tomorrow's going to be an early morning."

Aria groaned. "School. I hate it!"

Adriana giggled. "Tell me about it. I've got an eight thirty psych exam, and I spent the weekend here, instead of with my nose in a textbook." "Please," Ezra said dismissively to Adriana. "You're the golden child. You could pass that exam in your sleep with the flu." "This coming from the guy who aced his winter English final freshman year with the worst case of mono I've ever seen," Hardy interjected. He looked to Aria. "You should've seen him. I don't think he got out of bed for a _week_ after finals were over." "Nope," Adriana said. "Almost ended up losing his spleen because of how bad it was."

"Alright, alright," Ezra commented. Let's get going. I have papers that have to be graded and a final to finish putting together."

The other three chuckled at him, and then they all returned inside the house to make sure they each had all of their things, and to say goodbye to Serena before they headed back out into the jeep. Hardy and Adriana took the front again while Aria and Ezra were once again in the back seat.

"Did you really have a good time?" Ezra asked as they pulled onto the highway.

Aria nodded, resting her head on his shoulder. Her legs were draped across his lap, and his free hand rested on her calf while his other arm was wrapped around her.

"I really did. It was nice to be in a family setting again. Reminds me of how much I miss it."

Ezra forced a smile, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "Maybe things will change soon."

Aria shrugged. "Whether they do or don't, it was nice to feel accepted, and no judgment. I like your mom a lot, and Adriana is great, too. Your family just reached out and accepted me, regardless, without even knowing me. It means a lot."

Ezra kissed her forehead. "Good."

Aria nuzzled her face into his neck and let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes. She was exhausted.

_-  
>I'm not depressed or hopeless<br>__I'm only walking in a blur  
>- <em>

Aria sighed as she sunk into the comforts of her and Ezra's bed. Even though she'd slept for most of the drive home, she was still exhausted. She couldn't help but attribute that to the fact that she knew in the morning, she'd be returning to school _and_ work. After two days of doing nothing but enjoying herself and being lazy, she abhorred the idea of getting up at seven AM on Monday morning and going to school and then to work.

"Come lay with me," she said wearily as Ezra walked into the room.

He chuckled and walked over to the bed. He kicked off his shoes and then laid down in his spot on the bed. Aria snuggled up to him, wrapping her arm across his waist.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

Aria shrugged. "Sunday night feeling." Ezra became confused. "Huh?" "You know, that feeling you get on Sunday nights, when you know that you have to go home because on Monday morning, you have to go to school. I'm not ready to give up being happy and lazy just yet." Ezra chuckled as he suddenly understood what she meant. He rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. "Well, how about this. I'll bring the TV in here, order in greek food, and we can have an old-fashioned senior citizen night in bed, with lights out at 8." Aria laughed. "How pathetic is it that **that** actually sounds _appealing_ to me?"

Ezra shook his head. "It's not pathetic. We spent six hours walking around New York yesterday. And last night was _far _from lazy."

Aria giggled, burying her face in his chest. "Don't remind me. I've got the **bruises** to prove it."

Ezra nodded, tilting her chin up to look at him as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Tell me about it. I've got enough _bite marks _to make people question whether I was attacked by vampires."

Aria laughed and Ezra rolled his eyes. They laid there for a several more minutes before he finally slipped out from under her and moved off the bed. He walked over to his desk and pulled takeout menus from one of the drawers. He flipped through it for the phone number and then walked out of the room.

Aria dug over the side of the bed for her school bag and then pulled out the binder that held all of her homework. She flipped it open and pulled out the review packet she'd been given on Friday for homework from her mother. It was a review on Lord of the Flies. Aria had hated the book, but she'd read it cover to cover.

She filled out several answers on the sheet while she waited for Ezra to return from calling for dinner. The review wasn't due until the end of the week, but she was sure that her work schedule would probably overtake most of her study time for the week.

Ezra returned to the room a few minutes later and tossed the menu on the desk. He walked back out of the room and then returned a few minutes later with the TV cradled in his hands. He settled it on the dresser and then plugged it into the wall and made sure the cable line was twisted in as well. He turned it on with the remote and walked over to the bed. He dropped against it and looked over at the paper Aria was writing on.

"The answer is Simon," he said teasingly.

Aria shoved his face away and rolled her eyes, smirking. She scribbled something onto her paper and then closed her binder and set it on the lfloor.

"Food should be here in about half an hour," Ezra told her. "And A Walk To Remember is on TNT."

"Ohhh," Aria said cheerfully. She snuggled into Ezra's side and grabbed the remote to adjust the volume. They had seen the movie together only once before, and Aria had been beside herself by the time the credits had rolled. Even so, they were in agreement that it was one of their favorite movies.

They laid snuggled together in the bed as the movie played on the TV, and stayed that way until the doorbell rang, alerting them that dinner had arrived. Aria scowled as she curled away from Ezra, and he moved off of the bed.

"Take the money from my purse," she said as he reached for his wallet.

Ezra turned around to look at her. "Aria-" She shook her head. "You pay for _everything_. I'm **supposed** to be helping. How can I help if you're always paying?"

Ezra shook his head. "Bills are going to be in, in a few weeks. There will be plenty to help with there, I promise." Aria shook her head, pushing herself up off the bed. She grabbed her purse off the dresser and dug through it until she found her wallet. She pulled several bills out.

"At least let me pay half."

Ezra sighed. He didn't want to argue with her when their food was waiting at the door. He took the twenty dollars she was offering and walked out of the bedroom. It would be nothing to sneak it back in her bag later in the evening.

He walked out of the room and opened the front door, pulling several bills out of his wallet. He handed them over to the man and then took the bag of food, stuffing Aria's money and his wallet into his pocket.

He closed the door a moment later and walked into the kitchen with the bag. He pulled the trays off food out of the bag and then settled servings onto each plate before walking back into the bedroom. Aria had her laptop open.

He walked over to the bed and settled a plate on her nightstand before he walked around the bed, and sat down on his side. He settled into a comfortable position and then grabbed his plate from the nightstand and looked over at what Aria was looking at.

"What's that?" Aria moved over on the bed, giving him a clearer view of her SocialPage. Dozens of students that she had friended on the site had posted pictures from prom the night before.

"Ohh," Ezra said as he looked a picture of Hanna and Emily. Hanna had her arm wrapped around Emily's neck and they were both smiling.

"Hanna got junior prom queen," Aria said, though it was less than a surprise. "Sean got king."

"Isn't she dating that kid that came in halfway through the semester, though?" Ezra asked. "Cole? Cory?" Aria giggled. "_Caleb_. And yes, she is. She and Sean only danced until their dates cut in. They haven't really been on speaking terms since they broke up."

She continued scrolling through the photos. Hanna, Spencer, and Emily had each also e-mailed her photos from the night. She clicked on her profile page and scrolled down to the recent posts.

_Hanna Marin says: Wish you were here! Tonight's going to be so much fun!  
><em>_Saturday, May 8__th__ 2011, 3:33 PM_

_Spencer Hastings says: Totally requesting Together tonight for you and Ali. Wish you both were going to be there. I hope New York is all sorts of fun!  
><em>_(tagged): Listen To: Together by Michelle Branch  
><em>_Saturday, May 8__th__ 2011, 2:01 PM_

She scrolled up to the top of her page and clicked on her notifications. Among them were the typical posts that she got from people making comments about her, along with friends tagging her in posts. She clicked on one.

_Calleigh Adams says: Stellar night last night, and if prom wasn't great enough, the after parties were even better! Wonder where my friend __**Aria Montgomery **__was, though! Wish you'd been there!_

_**Hanna Marin: New York. She totally sucks. **_

_**Calleigh Adams: She's in New York? Color me green with envy!**_

Aria chuckled as she scrolled back up to her notifications. A new one popped up from Spencer. She clicked on it.

_Spencer Hastings says: Told you I'd do it!  
><em>_(View Photo)_

She clicked on the photo and a computer playlist showed up. Sure enough, Together was shown as playing on the computer. Aria chuckled. She closed up her computer and set it aside, grabbing her plate from beside her. She and Ezra ate in silence, turning their attention back to the movie. By the time she had finished her food she was sniffling at the scenes on TV. The movie had reached the point where Jamie passed out in her room, and Aria had always been a sucker for a love story.

Ezra passed her a tissue as he finished his own food, and pulled her gently into his arms. "Does this movie ever _not_ make you cry?"

Aria giggled, shaking her head as she wiped away the tears on her face. "Probably not. But it's just so sad! He comes so far from being an ass, only to lose the girl he falls in love with!"

Ezra chuckled. "But wouldn't you rather have one good year with someone than fifty mediocre ones?"

Aria pushed up on the bed and looked up at him. "You're not about to tell me you're leaving or that you have a terminal illness, are you?"

Ezra shook his head. "Of course not." "So what _are_ you saying?" Aria asked.

"I'm saying that there's a lot more worth in falling in love with someone that really teaches you something about life, or yourself, than living a life that spans eighty years, and nothing is ever learned. Wouldn't you agree?"

The question he posed to her was a big one, and it was one that Aria honestly had to consider for a few moments. Sure, she wanted a long life, and she definitely wanted it to be with Ezra, but some of what he said actually had merit. What was the use in living a life that lasted into your eighties or nineties, but was spent doing nothing? Where was the worth when there were no risks, and nothing was learned? What could you possibly learn if you never made mistakes? "Life is a learning curve?" She said.

Ezra laughed. "Yeah. My mom would be proud."

Aria laughed as well, snuggling back into his side as they settled in for the rest of the movie. If there was one thing she was sure of, it was the fact that she had made the right decision, not going back to her parents when they had kicked her out. Sure, the last few week had been tough, but she was learning so much by going through with it. She couldn't regret it, even if in the end, it ended up being the biggest mistake of her life. There was too much to be learned; so much to be gained.

And Ezra's own opinion wasn't far off, either. He had been born and bred into the theory that there was always something to be learned. He ate, slept, and breathed the idea that there was a constant learning curve in life. Aria was his best friend, his lover, and his soul mate, regardless. If there was one thing **he** was absolutely sure of, it was that even if they hadn't gone about their relationship in the right way, the relationship _itself _was right. There was nothing to be questioned about it when everything was cut down to size.

There were no secrets, and there were no lies. They were open and honest about everything, which is what really mattered most.

Aria heaved a sigh as she shifted down on the bed so that she was lying more comfortably. She closed her eyes and let herself be comforted by the moment as she laid there, and Ezra brushed is fingers through her hair. There had been a time when moments like this felt so rare, and she was constantly terrified that something was going to tear it all apart. Sometimes she still felt like that, but at the end of the day, she knew that she still had him on her side, no matter what the cost. He had stood by her this far. If nothing else, she felt almost unbreakable now.


	21. I Won't Fight For Anyone

**A/N: I know. I NEVER do this! However, you can thank some really amazing friends/readers over on twitter for this. I can't even explain to you guys… The fourteenth always kicks my butt (for personal reasons), but some REALLY amazing people and one really amazing musician/friend made me feel ANYTHING but sad last night, and this is my way of thanking them. **

**And on the side, I've just gotta do this. If you haven't heard of him, go check out Gavin Mikhail. I'll definitely be using his music at some point in this story. If not, then in the sequel! And if you have heard of him…spread the word! That man's got some major talent!**

**And, I just wanted to put this in here: you guys can ALWAYS message me on tumblr or twitter if you have questions. I know I get them in reviews sometimes, but you're not signed in, and then when I get around to posting the next chapter I end up forgetting! So please! Ask me over on twitter or tumblr. And just incase you didn't know:**

My twitter screen name: sailorninja26

My tumblr screen name: here-in-the-shadow

_Chapter 20_

_I Won't Fight For Anyone UntilYou Move My Hand_

Monday morning came with a refreshed feeling for Aria. A long and goods night's sleep that followed a stellar weekend seemed to be all she needed to shake all the bad feelings she'd been having lately when it came to school. Regardless of how much trouble there had been in the last few weeks, she was ready to face it head-on, with a new approach. She had full intentions of not letting herself be bothered by the comments that were sure to come her way. And of course, with prom having just been forty-eight hours earlier, she was sure there was a new scandal about to take eyes off of her.

She placed a twenty dollar bill on the counter as she waited for Loretta to hand over the three coffees she'd ordered for herself. She wasn't ashamed to admit that even on good days, she was a total caffeine addict. Spencer stood beside her, and Ezra had just sped off in the direction of Hollis with two cups of his own to get through the day.

Aria brushed tendrils out of her face and pulled her unzipped black bomber jacket tighter around herself. If she didn't have total confidence in her own body, she was sure people would've looked at her like she was a slut. She was dressed in comfortable suede brown boots, a mid-thigh jean mini skirt, and a white tank top, all of which she'd bought over the weekend. She didn't feel very bad about it. The weather was supposed to peak at 80 by noon, and she was sure by the time she made her way over to work, the heat was going to be sweltering.

"So did Sean and Caleb actually get into a fight," Aria asked as she took her tray of coffees from Loretta. She and Spencer walked out of the building and headed towards Aria's car.

"No," Spencer said. "But they almost did. Sean kept saying things that he knew would piss Hanna off, and Caleb wanted to jump him. Lucas and Toby almost had to drag him out of the gym."

"Oh my gosh," Aria said, shaking her head. "I'm _so_ glad I wasn't there."

"Probably a good thing," Spencer agreed. "God only knows what people would've said if they had seen you there with Ezra." "Ha!" Aria cackled derisively. "They probably would've kicked us out, and I'm sure someone would have found a way to get me into a world of trouble for doing nothing wrong."

She opened her passenger side door and settled her untouched coffees into the two cup holders in the pull-out that rested between her seats before placing the one she was drinking at the present moment between the driver and passenger seat and placing the cup holder in the passenger seat with her purse.

"We still wish you could've been there," Spencer said. "It was fun, but was missed you." Aria smiled sympathetically. "Well I was having fun too, if that's any consolation. We went shopping all over Manhattan on Saturday, and then Ezra and I had a, um…nice night in." She blushed at the mention of it. They'd had _more_ than just a nice night in.

Spencer laughed, shaking her head at her best friend. "Did Mr. Fitz get frolicsome with you?"

Aria shook her head. She couldn't take the teasing from her friends sometimes. Her face felt hot from the mention that brought up the memory of Saturday night. She was ashamed to admit even to herself that it made her want to find Ezra at that very moment and do immoral things to _and_ with him.

"Can we just go to school?" Aria asked.

Spencer laughed and nodded. They both separated and Aria rounded her car to the driver's side while Spencer walked over to her own. They both headed off in the direction of school, and met up again a few minutes later in the student parking lot. Aria retrieved her coffees, having already finished one on the drive over, and then grabbed her school bags. She followed Spencer into the school, telling her about the time she'd spent with Ezra, Adriana, and Hardy in Times Square as they headed towards Spencer's locker and then to Aria's.

Aria was placing things in her locker and grabbing the books she'd need for the morning as Spencer looked at the pictures that had been taken in New York on Aria's phone.

"You guys look so happy there. Even Adriana and Ezra's friend look happy," Spencer said enviously. "I wish I'd been there with you." Aria chuckled, standing back up. She slung her bag over her shoulder and took her phone back from Spencer, tucking it into the pocket of her jacket. Spencer's attention was pulled away by her own phone buzzing in her pocket while Aria greeted Hanna and Emily with hugs when they walked up.

"Did you have the best weekend?" Hanna asked gleefully.

Aria smiled, reaching into her locker to grab her coffees. "Everything but throwing up was great." "Oh no," Emily said. "You got sick?" Aria shrugged. "Lunch on Saturday didn't agree with me. I think there was just too much grease in it or something. I was fine afterwards." She looked towards Emily. "Now, what is this I hear about you and _Paige_? I thought you and Maya were a thing?" Emily shook her head. "Until Maya lied to me about still doing…" she paused looking around. Too many students were starting to fill the hallways. "She lied to me. And Paige came out to her parents. Besides, it was just coffee. We're just taking it slow, seeing if we can make things work."

Aria smiled and nodded. "Well I'm glad you're making it work with someone who makes you happy, and doesn't make you feel like you have to keep it a secret." Emily smiled. She opened her mouth to say something, but her attention was pulled away as Paige called her name from down the hall. She waved to the girls and then headed down the hall, promising to see them in first period.

"We should get to class," Hanna said a few moments later as she returned from her own locker. Spencer was still talking on her phone.

They all started heading towards the classroom, and Aria and Hanna were crossing the doorway when Ella looked up at them.

"Ms. Hastings, you know the rules about cell phones. Go put it in your locker."

Aria and Hanna gaped at Ella, looking back and forth between her and Spencer. With a defeated groan, Spencer promised to return quickly, and she headed down the hall. Aria walked to her seat and settled into it, pulling her binder from her bag. She continued working on the review packet her mother had given them until the bell rang.

Class itself was less than interesting. It was all review and discussions about the topics assigned in the packets. Ella also assigned another review packet and then left them to review the notes they had in their notebooks and work. When class finally ended, it was met with a silent cheer as the students piled out of the classroom and headed off towards their second class of the day. Aria followed Spencer out of the room and towards her locker.

"I can't believe your mom did that," she whined as she opened her locker.

Aria shook her head, pulling her phone from her bag. It was buzzing incessantly, and the noise was making her crazy. She pulled it out and furrowed her brow.

"Did you send me a text before you came back to class earlier?" Spencer shook her head, pulling her phone free from her locker organizer. "Not at all. I said goodbye to Toby and put it in here. Why?" Aria opened the message. Her jaw dropped, and her eyes burned with tears that hadn't even started to come up behind them. She turned her phone towards Spencer as she looked around. People were looking back at her and laughing.

_**The good girl act doesn't work when you're really a slut.  
><strong>__**Now the whole school knows.  
><strong>__**-A**_

Spencer shook her head, scrolling through her phone for the message that she'd supposedly sent. Her outbox was empty.

"Aria, I…" Her voice trailed off. They both knew that Spencer hadn't sent that photo.

"It was supposed to be a joke," Aria forced past the knot tightening in her throat. She forced several deep breaths down her throat as Spencer wrapped her arm around her and led her off towards their study hall. Suddenly, Aria didn't want to be there. She was sure there was plenty of ridicule to come from the students who already thought she was knocked up. Or even better, they all probably thought she'd left town to have an abortion over the weekend, considering she'd been a no-show at prom.

Just outside of class, she ducked into the bathroom and dashed into a stall. She forced several deep breaths down, reminding herself of her earlier plans. If she let people see that what A had done affect her, then there was no way she was going to make it through the last three weeks of the school year. She wiped away the tears that had threatened to fall from her eyes and then stepped out of the stall and walked over to the mirror, checking to make sure she hadn't smeared her makeup before walking out of the room.

As she stepped into the classroom, her phone buzzed in her hand. It was Ezra. Aria took her seat next to Spencer and leaned towards her as she settled her bag on the table.

"Is Ezra in your phone book?" She asked.

"His number is supposed to be private. It can only be seen with a code." Spencer said.

Aria sighed and opened her phone. "But A probably sent it to the entire phone book."

She opened the message.

"_Is this supposed to be a joke?"  
><em>_-Ezra_

Aria shook her head, looking up to make sure the teacher wasn't watching her before she typed back a quick response.

"_Yeah. Between me and Spencer.  
><em>_I'll explain later. XO." -Aria_

She sent the message off and then turned her phone down to silent and pulled her books from her bag and continued working on the review that she had for most of her classes. She was hopeful that the teacher would stay in the classroom for the entire period, because then the gossip would stick to just whispers, instead of actually being spoken out loud.

Even so, when class came to a close, it didn't stop the things that kids said to her in the hallways. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer did their best to stick to her side as they each passed between classes. The worst of it kept coming from girls that Aria wasn't surprised to be bullied by. Gina Ryan was the prettiest girl in the senior class. She was also the smartest, and the bitchiest. She had no problem making people feel two inches tall. Most of the student body knew that she thought Ezra was hot when he had been working at Rosewood, even though she'd never actually been in one of his classes.

"So do you like dance on a pole now," she asked with a ridiculing laugh as she passed Aria.

Aria forced a sigh and tossed her uneaten lunch into a trash. She placed the tray on a table and walked across the commons, trying her best to ignore the comments flying at her as she walked past half the student body. She passed Spencer, Hanna, and Emily as she made her way towards the doors that led outside to the front of the school. She was hoping desperately that some fresh air would help her calm down.

She shoved a door open and walked out of the school, into the courtyard. Mike was settled outside with a girl. He looked up at her as she walked passed him and then dismissed himself from his obvious lunch date and followed after his sister.

"Hey. You okay?"

Aria looked up at him, slightly surprised at his sudden appearance as she continued to walk around the grounds. "As okay as someone can be when they're being called a slut by everyone in school. How're you?" Mike shook his head. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Would a hug help?" Aria looked around, swallowing hard. She didn't want to cry here. She nodded. She welcomed her baby brother's arms as they wrapped around her torso, and she struggled to quell the tears threatening to bubble up inside of her. She only had to get through two and half more hours, and then the school day would be over.

"What was that picture anyway," Mike asked a few minutes later as he walked with her.

Aria shook her head, crossing her arms tightly as her jacket draped over them. As she'd expected, the heat was hot, and most of the girls in the student body were dressed similar to her. Even so, part of her felt like she should be dressed in a down parka. She knew that she'd been wearing shorts in the picture that Spencer had taken of her, but somehow she felt exposed when she looked at it.

"It was a joke between me and Spencer the other night when I stayed the night at her house. She said I looked hot, and I was being sarcastic by popping the collar. She took a picture."

Aria looked around and then sighed again, pulling her phone from her pocket. She had let it stay locked all afternoon, mostly because she didn't want to read the several dozen texts she'd gotten since that morning from her fellow peers about how she must be a slut. She checked the time on the screen and then looked to her brother.

"We've got to get back inside. The bell is going to ring in two minutes." Mike nodded.

And so they did. They walked back into the building just as the bell rang, and then headed off in separate directions. Aria joined Spencer for Geometry, and they talked on the walk over to class about where Aria had been for the entire lunch hour. Once they made it to class though, Aria was grateful. Being that review or geometry wouldn't come until the last week before finals, the entire class hour was spent in a lesson. Though the last twenty minutes were given as work time, the teacher was settled at her desk and she always had an eagle eye on the students to make sure there was nothing but working being done.

Class eventually let out, and Aria met up with Emily for ICT. Their final was supposed to be to build something completely out of HTML, whether it be a web layout or a widget. They were left entirely to everything they had kept notes on and whatever they could figure out on their own. Aria had started working on a layout the week before that was about a quarter of the way finished.

As she loaded up her account, the onslaught of e-mails that filled her inbox as it loaded automatically was enough to make her head spin. She deleted most of them without even reading, as they were from fellow students. Even so, the titles gave enough away, calling her a variety of names that honestly made her feel sick and dirty.

Afterwards, she went to work, working on her layout. Once again she found solace in the silence. Even if her e-mail continued to pop with new messages, ICT was another class where the teacher watched with an eagle eye, and every move by every student was noticed. There was very little anyone could get away with.

Class came to an end all to quickly, and she took several minutes after to let people file out while she slowly closed up her work and then checked the messages on her phone. To most people, it would've seemed that she was in no rush, but the truth was that she simply didn't want to deal with all the bullying.

People headed off in different directions, and when Aria felt like things were a little more safe, she made her way out of the room. Her heart sank immediately as she stepped out of the media center. Gina Ryan and her friends were standing there among other students, ready with an onslaught of comments.

"So, did you go to New York to have an abortion?"

"Seriously, do you actually dance on a pole? I mean that's got to be how you make money since your parents kicked you out, right?'

"How much do I have to pay to have sex with you?"

The comments continued to fly as Aria stopped at her locker to grab her things. She was trying with everything in her to ignore the comments, and in a way, it seemed to help. Some of the students seemed to grow bored by her lack of emotion showing, and they headed off in different directions.

Aria pushed up from the floor as she closed her locker and turned to walk away.

"Hey whore, I'm talking to you! Your boyfriend must be really damaged in the head to go for someone as ugly and stupid as you." As cold as the words flying at her had been all day, that comment got to her. Aria spun in her place, and stared down the girl who had said it. Of course, it was Gina Ryan. She couldn't stop herself before the words came out of her own mouth.

"It takes a whore to know a whore. And, does your boyfriend know you went down on his best friend at homecoming last year? What about on prom night? I heard some nasty little rumours about you too, y'know, Gina?"

Aria gulped as the words left her mouth. She had honestly only said them because she wanted to defend herself. Even as much as she hated the girls in front of her for saying such cold and cruel comments to her that day, somehow she felt like she was staring down a girl who could rival Alison in ways she would hurt people.

And so, she didn't expect the lockers when she hit them. The pain came afterwards, almost like an afterthought for her body, but when it _did_ come, it came crashing down hard. All at once, there were feet kicking, hands punching, and people screaming.

Voices scrambled around her into a bunch of garbled speak as she laid there on the floor. Each of her limbs hurt, but the worst pain was in her back, like someone had burned her there.

Slowly but surely, the girls around her began to dissipate, and she could hear teachers yelling. A moment later, as she slowly started to push herself up, she felt a gentle, warm hand wrap around her bicep.

"Aria, oh my god!" Hanna's voice was loud and clear as she helped her to her feet. Spencer was at her other side a moment later, also helping her up from the floor.

"Are you alright?" Spencer's voice was concerned,, but Aria could hear the anger as well. She brushed a strand of hair out of Aria's face.

"You're bleeding!" Emily said, surprised. She pulled a tissue from her bag and offered it to Aria.

Aria took the tissue and dabbed it at the edge of her lip, wincing. That hurt all too much. She could feel something trickling down the side of her head as well, and her cheeks felt wet from water.

"What happened?" Hanna asked. She looked to Aria, then to Spencer.

Spencer shrugged. "I just came around the corner, and saw them all on her, like vultures taking down a hide."

Aria shook her head, finally realizing that the water was actually her own tears. "Gina Ryan made a comment about Ezra being damaged and I lost it. I couldn't- I don't care if they call me a slut, but he…" She shook her head slowly, not bothering to stop the tears that fell down her face anymore. "I told her it takes one to know one, and she got pissed and then there were all these girls. I don't know. I ju- I gotta go to Hollis."

She winced as she dabbed the tissue to her lip again.

"No," Spencer disagreed. "You need to go to the hospital. You've got a huge gash on your head."

"I need-" She was cut off again.

Hanna shook her head angrily. "No! I'll call Ezra and tell him to meet you there, but you need to go to the hospital. We'll go with you."

Spencer wrapped a gentle hand around Aria, only to have her wince. He new shirt was torn up but Spencer could see the redness and scrapes on the little bit of her back that she could see.

"Sorry." Aria shrugged tentatively. "S'fine." She looked up when they were all stopped by the principal standing in front of them.

"I assure you, Ms. Montgomery, this will _not_ be tolerated. Ms. Ryan and the other girls will be punished to the full extent that school board is allowed, and the liaison officer will weigh in on this as well. Justice will be done for this."

Aria nodded slowly. She opened her mouth to respond, but something just behind Principal Davis caught her attention. She looked beyond him. Ella was leaning against the doorframe of her classroom. She'd seen everything.

Aria turned her attention away from her mother and let her friends lead her out of the building. They were talking about taking her to the hospital, but Aria pulled her arms from Hanna and Spencer's grasps as they walked out of the doors.

"I'm _not_ going to the hospital," she insisted.

"Aria-" "No!" She argued. She'd been getting bullied all day. She wasn't to let her own friends do it to her now. "Just take me home. I'll take some Tylenol and lie down. If I'm still hurting later, I'll let Ezra take me in. Alright?" She could tell that her friends were less than pleased with her argument, but they also knew the day she'd had, and Spencer felt a **lot** of guilt over it. Finally, she nodded, slipping her arm through Aria's again.

"Okay. But let me take you home and explain everything to Ezra." She looked over to Hanna. "Call him at Hollis and tell him to take an early afternoon."

Hanna nodded.

_-  
>Sticks and stones may break my bones<br>__But your words, they surely kill  
>- <em>

How it was possible, Aria had no clue, but Ezra managed to beat them back to the apartment. By the time they arrived, her guard had fallen entirely, and mascara had made many different trails down her face as she got out of the car. Her body ached in at least a dozen different places. This had been the exact _opposite_ of what she had planned her day to be like.

As she pushed out of the car though, she didn't feel any better. There was a bruise just below Ezra's left eye. Suddenly she wanted to demand answers, but he spoke faster than she did.

"What the **hell** happened?"

He yelled, but his words weren't directed at her as he slipped his arm gently around her and he walked with her and Spencer to the door. They each stepped inside of the apartment, and Spencer and Ezra both directed her to a chair at the table. Ezra muttered something about clean clothes and the first aid kit before he headed into the bedroom and sent Spencer searching into the bathroom. They both returned to the sitting room at the same time while Aria was trying to pull her blood covered tank top off. There were scrapes all over body.

"Now tell me how this happened," Ezra growled as he settled a pair of grey sweats and one of his t-shirts on the table for Aria. He practically ripped open the first aid kit started pulling things out. He walked into the kitchen a moment later.

"Kids were saying things," Spencer said as she pulled Aria's hair out of the bun she'd pulled it up into that morning. Once it was down, Spencer pulled it back up into a loose pony tail.

"Is this because of that picture?" Ezra called from the other room.

"It was all a stupid joke," Aria whimpered. Her voice trembled.

Ezra walked back into the room with a washcloth and a bowl of lukewarm water. He settled it on the table. "What, sweetie?" She shook her head at him as more tears ran down her face. "It was a _joke. _Just me and Spencer. But someone sent the photo around and made it out to be something else."

Ezra dipped the washcloth into the bowl of water and then brought it up to Aria's forehead. She winced as he touched her head.

"Sorry," he murmured. He tried to be lighter with his touch, but there was very little he could do to keep from touching the bruise forming under the open wound. Blood had run down there and it needed to be cleaned up.

"There was a fight. Some girls made some comments," Spencer said. "Girls in the senior class who aren't very nice. Aria fought back, and they went after her."

Ezra finished wiping away the blood and placed the washcloth into the bowl. Immediately the water started to change into a pink shade. Ezra grabbed Aria's hands and helped her up.

"Lets get you out of these clothes and get the rest of you cleaned up." He looked over at Spencer. "And where did they think they had any merit to say anything? How did this even get out?"

Aria raised her arms slowly, and Spencer stood behind her while Ezra stood in front of her, and he gently pulled the shirt up off her body. Ezra tossed the shirt aside once it was off her body and reached for the fresh shirt.

"Wait," Spencer said warily.

"What?" Ezra looked up at her. His hand left the t-shirt. Spencer waved her finger at him, motioning for him to look. Spencer pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped a photo.

"What is it?" Aria asked. Her voice trembled still.

"A?" Ezra asked. "What is A supposed to mean?"

"_What?"_Aria whipped around and looked at the both of them. Spencer handed Aria her phone. Sure enough, the photo she'd just taken showed the outline of several long scrapes shaping into the letter A.

"Someone better tell me **right now** what the HELL 'A' means!" Ezra yelled.

Aria shook her head. As if she wasn't upset enough, bigger tears began to run down her face. She gripped the table as her legs began to shake beneath her. Ezra reached out and helped her back into her chair. Spencer and Aria exchanged a look. Spencer nodded.

Aria whimpered. "We don't _know_ who A is. They've been after us for a while, though. Stalking us." "Us as in who? You and me? You and Spencer?" Aria shrugged, whimpering. "Everyone in our group. It started when school started." Ezra sank down in front of her, gently placing his hand on her cheek. "Aria, why didn't you _tell_ me about this?"

Aria shook her head. "A knows things, that we don't want people knowing. A knew about us, and threatened to expose us more than once. And he, she, _it_ knows things about more than just you and I. Hanna, Spencer, Emily…"

"A knows everything because somehow A **sees** everything," Spencer said. "I never thought A would've been involved in this, though." "Why?" Aria asked, looking up at her. "A mowed Hanna down with a car. A put Emily in the hospital with an ulcer."

"Okay, **WHAT?**"

Aria shook her head. There was a better time to explain to Ezra all of this, and now wasn't it. This was all about a bully.

"I'll explain more later," she said softly.

Ezra desperately wanted more information, and he was angry enough to shoot fire, but he could see that she was upset and exhausted, and so he obliged. He reached over the table and grabbed the washcloth from the bowl and wrung it out before bringing it down against Aria's left shoulder. He gently swiped it down the entirety of her back, wiping away droplets of blood that had congealed around the wound. Her seething as he did so made him feel terrible, but the sooner she was cleaned up, the sooner she could be tucked into bed.

"I'm supposed to work at 3:30 today," she said. "You're not going **anywhere**," Ezra said as he finished wiping down her back. He walked back around her so that he face facing her. "I'll take care of that once we finished getting you cleaned up." He refused to hear any argument that Aria posed, so the next few minutes were spent in silence as he pulled a bandage from the first aid kit and pressed it over Aria's forehead. There were several more wounds that merited bandages on her torso and her legs, but soon enough she was cleaned and covered up. She walked into the bedroom to change out of her skirt and boots, and Ezra turned to Spencer.

"Where was her mother during all of this?" Spencer shook her head. "She saw all of it and didn't do anything about it. Aria didn't say anything, but I know she saw her, and she's upset about it."

Ezra exhaled an angered breath as he scrunched empty bandage wrappers in his hand. "That's just lovely." He gulped and shook his head. "Thanks for getting her home." Spencer nodded.

"Do you need me to find you a way home?" Ezra asked.

Spencer shook her head, pulling her phone from her bag. "I texted Toby before we left school. He should be on his way already."

On cue, there was a knock at the door. Spencer grabbed her school bag from the floor. Ezra turned to leave. She placed a hand on his bicep. "Have Aria call me?" Ezra nodded. He turned and headed into the kitchen, and a moment later, the door opened and closed. Once he tossed away the wrappers, he walked back into the sitting room and closed the first aid kit. He returned it to the bathroom and then walked back into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl of now red water and the wash cloth, and walked back to the kitchen. He dumped the water and then walked back to the bathroom and placed the wet cloth in the hamper.

It took a lot to keep his emotions from boiling over as he settled the bloodied cloth inside it. For weeks, fighting for their relationship had seemed so _right_. Now it felt more dangerous than it ever had. Suddenly, all he wanted to do was send Aria home to her parents and tell her it was over, all for her own safety.

He sunk down against the bathroom door and rested his head against his knees, trying to calm himself. He couldn't stop the tears that ran down his face, because he genuinely felt that this was his fault.

After a few minutes, he plucked himself up from the floor and wiped away the frustrated tears, and then walked out of the apartment to Aria's car. He grabbed her things from it, including her phone, and put a call in to Retta's to explain that she wouldn't be in, and why.

He finally entered the bedroom a good ten minutes later and settled Aria's bags near the dresser as he closed the door. He walked around the bed and sat down next to her. She was lying on her side, staring at the TV.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked. He handed her a small, wrapped ice pack for her lip.

Aria looked up at him. "You can tell me what happened to your face."

"Apparently people talk. A dad came into my office today and told me his daughter had been assaulted by her teacher, and then he punched me. A student walked in right after, and he left. That was the end of that." "But he hit you," Aria said hoarsely. She slowly pushed herself up into a seated position.

"Doesn't matter," Ezra said dismissively. "Not compared to this. This isn't…" He shook his head again.

"Principal Davis said they're all going to be punished for doing it. It's not like it matters anyway."

Ezra turned sharply to face her. "**Hey**. Do **not** let your mother's lack of a reaction make you believe that! You matter!"

Aria shook her head, and Ezra wasn't sure if it was because she felt like there was nothing she could say to fight his reasoning, or if she didn't feel like there was any possible way they were going to agree on the subject. Either way, he extended his arms to her, and enclosed them when she took his offer, curling up tightly in his lap. He held her gently in his arms and rocked them back and forth, whispering over and over again that everything would be alright while she cried. If that was all he could do to help her feel better, then that's what he would do.

"I want you to stay home for a few days," he murmured when she'd calmed down. Aria didn't say anything. "I'm just worried about you being safe. Something tells me that those girls being in trouble is just going to anger them more.'

Eventually, Aria lifted her head up and looked at him. "Will you stay with me?" Ezra nodded, running his hand down the side of her face, brushing her hair out of her face. He kissed her temple gently. "Of course baby. Always."


	22. They Say Before You Start A War

**A/N: So, I come down to the kitchen to hang out with my mommy while she cooks dinner, and get an internet connection? Someone is feeling like I need to have a good day I guess. That said, I bring you chapter 21, just to shake things up :P**

**This chapter has one of my favourite scenes. And like I've been saying a lot in the last few days, shit's about to get really REAL. This story is now heading into it's final curve. No need to panic though, You've got at least 10 more chapters coming your way PLUS sequels! AND DON'T FORGET! I LOVE REVIEWS! (Whether they're sent here, on tumblr or twitter is up to you! :))**

_Chapter 21_

_They Say Before You Start A War_

_You Better Know What You're Fighting For_

Aria awoke the next morning in a world of pain. She knew her body hurt, but her head was killing her to the point that it hurt to even move. Before she even opened her eyes, she wondered if this is what Ezra had felt like when her father and Mike had jumped him.

She let out a slow breath and opened her eyes tentatively. She was grateful that there was only one window in their room, and that it was covered with a dark red curtain. Feeling a little more brave, she opened her eyes fully. She slowly started to outstretch her arms, only to let out a cry of agony when a pain shot down her sides.

Ezra whipped around from his seat at his desk. He had been awake since six AM, and after going through the regular morning activities of taking a shower and then making coffee, he'd settled at his desk to work on the paperwork that came with being a teacher. There were grades to be turned in, and reports on overall understanding of the criteria.

"Hey," Aria murmured wearily as she slowly pushed herself up into a seated position.

Ezra nodded at her. Things had been tense since the night before. He was a culmination of many different emotions from current events, and finding the right words to say to her about anything proved almost impossible.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked. "Coffee? Juice?"

Aria shook her head slowly, attempting to stretch a bit more. "I think I might go jump in the shower."

Ezra nodded. He watched as she gathered clothes and then headed out of the room. Ezra turned his attention back to his desk. He continued working on his paperwork until Aria returned to the room almost an hour later. She was wrapped in her bathrobe and carrying a mug of coffee.

She settled the mug on the dresser and then walked over to the bags from her shopping trip on Saturday and pulled out a sea foam green tank top and then walked back over to the dresser and grabbed undergarments and a pair of sweatpants. She walked over to the bed and removed the robe. She tossed it gingerly onto the bed and then moved slowly to slip into her clothes. A few minutes later, she was fully dressed. She walked over to the dresser and grabbed her mug and then walked back over to the bed and sat down. She picked up her laptop from the side of the bed and opened it up.

Ezra pushed back from his desk and walked out of the room to gather a fresh mug of coffee for himself. He returned a bit later and leaned against the door frame. "How're you feeling?" Aria looked up at him and shrugged. "About as good as I look."

If he was supposed to take his understanding from his own view of her, then he wasn't quite sure how bad that actually was. Bruises had come in over night, and marred her face, neck, and arms in purplish-blue spots. She'd removed the bandage her head in the shower and had yet to cover it again, but the gash on her head had started to scab over.

Ezra walked over to her as he grabbed the first aid kit from the dresser and walked over to her. He settled it on the bed and flipped it open, and pulled out a large bandage.

"Can I ask you about yesterday?" He inquired softly as he pulled the bandage apart.

Aria gulped. She knew questions both about the day before, and about A, were bound to come sooner or later. It was one of the reasons she had always hated the idea of even having to explain A to him.

"Sure," she finally replied. She watched as Ezra opened a small tube of Neosporin and gently squeezed it onto her forehead. He plastered the bandage there a moment later.

"Will you let me take a look at your back?" He asked.

Aria stood up and settled her laptop on the nightstand. She turned around. A moment later, Ezra's fingers started to brush gently up her back as he pulled the tank top slowly up her back. Aria wrung her hands, trying to keep her breathing in check as she waited for him to speak.

Ezra let her shirt drop a minute later, and he loosely wrapped his fingers around her arm to turn her to face him. Aria sat back down on the bed and grabbed her purse off the nightstand. She pulled out a tube of chapstick from it and ran it across her lips.

"I guess I should start with the most pressing issue. Who is A? I know you said you don't know who they actually are, but…" Ezra shook his head, shaking his hands as if he needed something tangible to make this understandable.

Aria nodded. "We don't know _who_ A is as far as their identity. We've had theories, but that's it. We don't have anything solid." Aria pressed her lips together for a moment as she picked absentmindedly at her cuticles. She looked back up at him. "I wish I knew more, so that I could tell you." "Doesn't it _bother_ you that there's someone out there that has it out for you and your friends?" Ezra asked.

Aria laughed at the irony of the question. "It more than bothers me, Ezra. But I can't stop someone when I don't know who they are. All four of us girls have done everything we can to try and keep everyone in our lives from getting hurt, but at this point, no one has been very lucky. A nearly tore apart Spencer's family, ran Hanna down with a car, put Emily in the hospital…" "And helped beat the hell out of you in the hallway at school," Ezra finished for her. He shook his head. "I just… I'm sorry. I want there to be a quick fix to all of this." "Me too," Aria murmured. Her shoulders dropped as she pushed her lips out in a pout. "It seems like we might be getting close to figuring it out soon." She reached forward and grabbed his hands gently in her own. "Look, I want answers just as badly as you do. Hopefully we'll have some soon."

"How does this person know all of these things about you, though?" Ezra asked.

Aria shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I _wish_ I knew."

She leaned back gingerly against the pillows and looked around the room. Somehow in twenty-four hours, their situation had shifted so considerably, that she felt like her entire world had shifted. She wondered if Ezra saw her differently. After all, for weeks they had been fighting for this relationship, but she couldn't help but wonder if maybe now he was doubting them because of the sudden changes.

Ezra didn't say anything as he moved off the bed, and it only served to add to Aria's fears. She was already having a nonexistent relationship with her parents. The idea of losing Ezra and having to go back to living with her parents in this current state wasn't an option she even wanted to consider. She couldn't imagine the idea of being with out Ezra, _or_ living with her parents when they didn't even speak to her.

"If you didn't mind, I was thinking I'd go in to work for a few hours," Ezra said a few minutes later. "I could stop by Rosewood and get your homework if you wanted me to on the way back."

Aria shook her head, pulling her legs up to wrap her arms around them. "That's fine. Spencer already offered to bring my school work by, though. I, um…" She rested her head on her knees and looked over at the window. Ezra must've pulled back the curtain while she was in the shower.

"What is it?" He asked. He began placing things into his bag. He would have to change before he left, too. He was still in sweats and a t-shirt from the night before, which had a pizza stain on it.

Aria exhaled a deep breath and looked up at him. "I feel like things have changed with us. Not in a good way, either." Ezra settled a book into his bag gently and then turned to face her fully. He walked over to the bed and sat down so that he was facing her, on the opposite side. "I wish I could say that they haven't, but they kind of have. The things that happened yesterday affect how things are with us. They change things." Aria nodded. There was a knot in her throat, that wasn't going to go away no matter what she did if she didn't ask him the question in her head. She was terrified of his answer. "How so?" She blinked several times, trying to ward off the tears already starting to build in her eyes.

Ezra exhaled hard. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and checked the messages on it. It was a move intended to be that of one to make him look like he had somewhere to be, but Aria knew him better than that. He really just didn't want to see her upset like this.

"I don't know just yet, Aria. This is really tough for me, to see you like **this,**" he said, gesturing to her bruises and other injuries. "Its even harder for me to know that it's because of **me **that it happened. My father's abuse aside, I am not worth _so much_ in this world that you should be **beaten up** because of me. I desperately want to brush this off, and chalk it up to another bump in the road for us, but is it really worth **this**? You getting beaten up by girls in school? Me getting hit by students parents? Or are we just deluding ourselves into believing in something that's never going to make the distance?"

Aria's bottom lip trembled as he looked her in the eyes. His expression was solemn and conflicted, and she could see in his eyes that it was affecting him, having to say those words to her. Even so, there was anger inside of her that he _would_ say those things. Didn't he believe in them just as much she did? Didn't he want their relationship as much as she did?

"So you would rather we just weren't together," she said, wiping away the tears on her face. "I mean should I just pack my bags now?" Ezra huffed, shaking his head. "I knew this wasn't going to come across to you the way that I wanted it to." He mumbled under his breath. "I'm not saying anything of the sort. But you and I need to take a different look at this relationship. We keep looking at it like people just need to accept what's in front of their face, but maybe we should be doing that, too. We've been doing a _lot_ of taking, without really **giving** anything in response." "What are we **supposed **to _give_, Ezra? I'm honest about **everything**! And I really hate it that **you, **of all people, are making me feel like it's a **bad** thing to love you! To want to be with you!" She shook her head erratically, moving off the bed as he reached out to touch her hand. She snatched a sweater hanging from the door knob of the closet and pulled it out.

"Maybe we **do** need to think about all of this," she said with a sense of finality. "Maybe you need to decide whether this relationship is still worth it to you." She grabbed a pair of sneakers from the floor and started slipping her feet into them.

"Aria-"

"No!" She said, whipping her head around to look at him. "I don't want to talk to you right now, Ezra. I **really** don't." With that, she snatched her keys and her purse from the nightstand, closed her laptop, and then walked out of the room, and then out of the apartment. She marched to her car and got into it, tossing her bag in the passenger seat before starting the car.

She had no idea of where she was going or any sense of a destination in mind as she pulled out of her parking space, so she simply drove. There wasn't anything specifically that she wanted to do or anywhere precisely that she wanted to be, so she just drove. She let the roads lead her, and eventually she was on the highway on her way out of Rosewood. She really couldn't hang in town during school hours when she didn't have anywhere that she could go.

She found herself in Philadelphia an hour later, and she ended up parked outside of the playhouse. She honestly hated Ezra for the words he had spoken to her back at the apartment. In her mind, the recent events in their shared life together had just firmed up their relationship that much more. She thought it was a good thing that they were willing to fight for each other. It made her stomach coil that he seemed to feel the opposite.

She wiped stray tears from her face as they fell, and ignored her phone as it buzzed in the middle of the dash. She had plugged it in to the car charger when it had started dying a while earlier, but she had no interest with speaking to Ezra about how she felt. If he wasn't going to apologize, she didn't want to hear more of his opinion. And even if he _was_ going to apologize, she wasn't sure she was ready to forgive him just yet.

Even so, eventually the clock ticked towards noon, and she started to get hungry. She didn't want to stay in Philadelphia, so she made her way back towards the highway, and set her sights back on Rosewood.

_-  
>I've said it once, and I'll say it again<br>__I've got something hanging over my head  
>- <em>

Ezra huffed as he tossed his phone into his bag. He was entirely frustrated that Aria seemed to be acting so irritating about their argument. He understood that they had differing opinions, but it wasn't helping that she was refusing to take his calls.

Adriana stopped in front of the desk that he claimed as his own in the shared lecture hall he and Byron used for their class. She rested her palms on the front of it and leaned forward slightly. She shot a wary look towards Byron, but he was engrossed in a conversation with another student.

"What's with the sourpuss attitude?" She asked.

Ezra glared at her as he looked up at her. "I'm having a disagreement with someone at the current moment, and that person is refusing to answer their phone." Adriana reached into her pocket and pulled her phone out. She scrolled through her contacts until she found Aria's number and then clicked on it and passed the phone towards Ezra. Ezra shook his head at her.

"This isn't something that's going to be resolved over the phone. She's not going to answer for you if she won't answer for me." He looked over towards Byron. The student who had been speaking with him was headed out of the room. Byron turned his attention towards his things on his own desk.

Adriana shrugged. "If you say so. Want to do dinner tonight?" Ezra nodded. "Whatever you and Hardy want is fine with me. Seven?"

Adriana nodded. "Lots and lots of homework to get done before then. God knows you never give a light load in your classes." Ezra chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Alright, Dre. Get out of here before I dig up more homework for you to do."Adriana gaped at him and then snapped up into an upright position. She mock-saluted him and then turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Ezra returned his attention to packing up his things. He had no intention of spending more than one minute extra with Byron. His anger aimed towards Byron and Ella after the previous day's events was one that could rival the anger he carried around about his father.

He picked up his bag as he finished tossing things into it. Desperately, he pulled his phone out of the side and checked the screen again for new messages. There weren't any. He headed towards the door, hoping to escape without any questions or comments. Just as his foot moved to cross the threshold into the hallway, his hopes were dashed.

"How is Aria?" Ezra exhaled a breath to keep from yelling at the man ten feet away from him. "Do you really even care," he chided.

Byron furrowed his brow. Ezra's comment had obviously shocked him. "Aria is my daughter. Regardless of anything, of course I care that she's hurt. Ella-" "Ella watched your daughter get bullied and beaten to the floor," Ezra argued with a firm voice. "She stood against her classroom door and watched those girls shove and kick Aria. And, girlfriend or not, if it had been me in that hallway, there's no way I would have let something like that happen to a student. But your wife stood right there and let it happen."

"Ella and I are trying to tread very softly with this," Byron argued. "We're trying to come to terms with what's happened. With ALL of this."

Ezra had to take several deep breaths to stop from launching himself at the man in front of him. Regardless of the fact that he was Aria's father, he wanted to kill Byron. Byron was actually trying to **justify** why Ella hadn't come to her daughter's aide the day before.

He knocked his fist against the wall next to him and forced a smile.

"Do you know what it's like to have your former student call you and tell you that you need to get home because your girlfriend has been beaten up by a group of girls and is badly hurt? To have to COMPLETELY disregard everything you've been working towards up to that moment and try and com up with a way not to kill someone or do something rash because in your head, you know its one HUNDRED percent your fault she's been hurt? I have buried a lot of unspoken guilt and self-hatred for Aria over all of this because all I want is for her to be happy. But yet, the moment when I think that you two would want to be there for her and say something… ANYTHING to help her out, you both failed. When all the chips are down, and there's NOTHING standing in the way of you and Ella having a chance to jump right in and be the ones winning in this game you've put the four of us in… Neither of you were anywhere to be found." "Ella and I don't view this as a game," Byron said firmly.

Ezra laughed with contempt. "You know what, Byron? Give me a call when someone has beaten on Ella and you can't figure out how to bury all of that anger. I've done _everythi__ng _I can to not detriment this situation any more than it already is, but I refuse to see Aria hurt even more, and if that means putting myself between you and her, then I will. You and I have nothing to say to each other outside of the classroom."

With that, Ezra turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

_-  
>I like to pretend that one day I'll turn around<br>__I'll see your hand reach out, I'm only fooling myself  
>- <em>

Aria shoved her lunch burrito aside on the bed as she flipped through the homework Spencer had brought her. They were both seated in her and Ezra's shared room, though Aria wasn't sure she'd be in there once he actually got home. She was still entirely furious with him.

Spencer shook her head, though her attention was on her phone as she typed a text message. Hanna was seated next to her, playing on her own phone.

"I don't get it," Hanna said as she set her phone aside. "Did he break up with you? And how does that when you're living together?" Aria shook her head and shrugged, looking up from the few worksheets she had in her hands. Most of the actual homework was more review, reading, and things she could find in her textbooks.

"He didn't break up with me. But he said he thinks we're deluding ourselves into trying to make this last." She had to take a deep breath to keep from crying. "He made me feel like I'm the only one in this relationship. I thought we wanted the same things, but after that conversation, now I'm think that's not the case." She pushed the ignore button on her phone as it started ringing next to her again. "It just makes me feel like, what were we spending all this time fighting for, then? I mean if he _really_ feels like this isn't right for us, and we're not going to last, what are we doing? Does he want to throw in the towel on our relationship? Or does he think we're just wasting our time?" "Those are questions only he can answer," Spencer said as she looked up from her phone. She settled it on her leg and opened a bag of pretzels she'd brought with her. She offered Hanna one as Aria picked at her burrito.

"I'm **afraid** of his answers," Aria said. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he wants to end this. I mean do I stay, and sleep in the other room? Or do I go home, and try to live with my parents? And if I _do_, how am I supposed to make _that_ work? How am I supposed to live in the same home as my mother when she just stood there while those girls beat me up?"

"I'd offer you the guest room," Hanna said. "But Emily is already in there."

Aria shook her head, gulping down a knot in her throat. Even though she didn't want to cry, tears ran down her face. "I can't lose him. Not like this. I can't see how we would go through everything we have, almost losing each other so many times before now, just for it all to end like this. It isn't fair." Spencer shook her head. She set her bag of pretzels aside and leaned forward on the bed, hugging Aria gingerly. "You won't lose him. Ezra loves you."

Aria exhaled a long breath and hugged Spencer back. She welcomed it when Hanna joined in on the hug. She had never been more grateful to have her friends than she was in those moments.

They stayed with her for a little while longer, and then headed out when Ezra came back.

The tension was so thick between he and Aria as they tiptoed around each other that it could be cut with a knife. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to say to her just yet, and Aria was afraid to ask. After nearly an hour of sitting in the bedroom with just-missed stolen glances and frustrated breaths, Aria snatched her laptop and her guitar and then walked over into the next room. Ezra was about to go after her, but as he walked out of the room and came to stand in front of the door, it slammed in his face. With a huff, he turned on his heel and walked back into their bedroom and settled back at the desk.

In the opposite room, Aria sat on the bed strumming her guitar and pulling together lyrics to a song. The words were harsh, and bordered on destructive, but the emotions running through her had to be expelled somewhere. She needed to get them out where they were safe, instead of keeping them bottled inside of her.

It was only after the song was done, and she was prepared to share it that she opened the bedroom door and headed out into the sitting room. She settled her laptop on the coffee table and then strummed a few notes on her guitar, mostly to get Ezra's attention in the other room. When she heard footsteps headed out towards her, she began to play.

The lyrics were a culmination of everything they'd been through together.

"_Been here before  
><em>_Revolving door,  
><em>_We're caught up and I don't know what for  
><em>_Anymore_

_We had the best  
><em>_And nothing less  
><em>_But the second we fell out step  
><em>_You up and left_

_This is so you  
><em>_This is what you do  
><em>_You'd rather make do  
><em>_Than make a move_

_What'll it take  
><em>_Now how do I make this  
><em>_Matter enough to you_

_Say you're a mess  
><em>_Say it's a shame  
><em>_Why can't you at least pretend  
><em>_Say i should leave  
><em>_You're over me  
><em>_Say something, say anything  
><em>_Anything, say anything  
><em>_Please_

_what happened to  
><em>_the plans we made  
><em>_and that contagious smile upon your face  
><em>_it's all begun to fade_

_you used to be so careful with me  
><em>_making sure we that we would always be  
><em>_each other's missing piece_

_well we can still save these tattered pages  
><em>_what'll you say we start over baby  
><em>_this is our chance  
><em>_and you're all i have  
><em>_don't let me slip through your hands_

_say you're a mess  
><em>_say it's a shame  
><em>_why can't you at least pretend  
><em>_say i should leave  
><em>_you're over me  
><em>_say something, say anything  
><em>_anything, say anything  
><em>_please_

_you know i miss you  
><em>_you know i wish you missed me, too  
><em>_baby tell me you do  
><em>_oh, oh, oh_

_say you're a mess  
><em>_say it's a shame  
><em>_why can't you at least pretend  
><em>_say i should leave  
><em>_you're over me  
><em>_say something, say anything  
><em>_anything, say anything  
><em>_Please…"_

He let her play the song in entirety with out once interrupting her. As he stood against the doorframe listening to her sing and play, he couldn't help but feel like he'd been slapped in the face with those words, regardless of how true or false the might be. He understood that she was hurting, and that it probably wasn't aimed entirely at only today's events, but it hurt him just as much as what he had said hurt her. He couldn't imagine a world that didn't have their relationship, and the idea that she thought he was throwing them away killed him inside.

Aria let out a shaky breath as she moved her guitar off her lap. Her eyes were closed, because she knew if she opened them, she would have to face the fallout of what might actually be the end of their relationship, She could hear him breathing across the room, and it absolutely terrified her. Why couldn't he just say whatever was on his mind and get it over with?

"There has _never_ been a time over the _entire_ eight months that we've been together that I was ever wanting to be anywhere else but with you, or didn't _miss_ you when you weren't here. There is _nothing_ else I want **more** than to be with you, Aria." She opened her eyes slowly, but Ezra was still standing against the doorframe of their room. Tears were clear on his face as she turned around to look at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words weren't coming, and she wasn't sure what to say anyway.

Ezra stood up straight and walked over to her. He closed her laptop and pushed it aside gently, sitting down on the coffee table in front of her. "The things I said today, I won't take back. I can't feel bad for being honest about how I feel. But I **never** said I was breaking up with you. And I hope if I _ever_ made you feel like I didn't care about you in this relationship, that you would've told me. I would never fake my feelings for you." He took a deep breath and took both of her small hands in his and squeezed them lightly. "I _do_ believe in this relationship, Aria. And as hypocritical as it sounds, for as much as I've told you to try and get past what your parents have said and done, I haven't. A part of me desperately wanted for them to wake up and realize what they were doing to you. But after yesterday…."

"They're not going to," she finished for him. Ezra opened his mouth to disregard her comment, but he couldn't.

"It's the truth," she said. "If anything would've changed my parents minds, it would've been seeing that yesterday, but it did nothing. And I haven't gotten any phone calls or messages asking if I'm okay. My parents really don't care. Which tells me that I'm doing the right thing, getting emancipated."

Ezra leaned forward and cupped his hand behind her head, bringing her towards him. He pressed his lips to her forehead.

"I talked to your dad today," he said. "After our argument, the last thing I wanted to do was speak with him, but he asked how you were, and I couldn't help myself. I went off on him. Maybe it was wrong and it wasn't fair, but the last thing I wanted to do was tell him how you _were_. All I wanted to do was scream at him."

"Then maybe it was for the best," Aria murmured. "Maybe what's best for me-…for _us_ is to completely disregard my parents at this point. They've had a lot of chances to step in, and they've thrown those chances away, time and time again. I hate to say it, but I think its time for me to stop sitting around and hoping that they're suddenly going to start caring again. My parents don't care about me anymore. If they did, they'd be here right now." They couldn't help themselves. They both looked towards the door, almost expecting a knock. It came.

Aria and Ezra gave each other a quizzical look, and then they both pushed up from their seats. She followed behind him, holding his hand loosely as they walked towards the door. He opened it without looking through the peephole. They both let out slightly disappointed sighs as Adriana and Hardy were revealed from behind the door.

Adriana held up a large paper bag. "Chinese, anyone?"

Aria and Ezra chuckled at her and moved aside, letting Adriana and Hardy into the apartment. After greeting each other, Ezra and Hardy headed into the kitchen to get plates. Adriana hugged Aria loosely.

"Are you feeling alright?" She asked softly.

Aria shrugged, brushing hair out of her face. "Sore. Moderate pain. It'll probably be another early night. I'm not all that excited about going back to school."

Adriana nodded, rubbing a soothing hand up and down Aria's back. "It'll be okay. And hey, things can only go up from here, right?" Aria chuckled. "Yeah."

"Alright, ladies," Hardy said cheerfully as he walked into the room carrying two plates. Ezra followed just behind him, and they settled plates on the table. "Dinner is served. Bon Apetit."


	23. All Messed Up And It's That I Blame

**A/N: I've been spoiling you guys so much. Trust me, you don't want to rush this. We're in the last ten chapters of the story. *sniff sniff* SAVOR IT! **

_Chapter 22_

_All Messed Up And It's That I Blame_

Aria groaned, shoving her books aside as she looked over at Ezra. He seemed content to sit at his desk and work from dawn until dusk, but she was bored out of her mind. Sore or not, she was felt like she was going crazy with nothing to do. She wanted to go back to school, and be able to go back to work. Sitting at home with nothing to do was great for a day or two, but after that, it started to get boring.

"I want to go back to school tomorrow," she said bluntly.

Ezra spun around in his chair. If all her groaning and huffing and puffing hadn't caught it earlier, he was definitely aware of her mood now.

"Are you sure about that," he asked. "I mean with your parents set in the stance that they are and the things that have happened in the last few days…" He paused for a moment. "Maybe it's just best to leave it alone until next week." Aria shook her head, moving off the bed. She walked over to him and sat down in his lap, draping his arm around his shoulders. It's already Wednesday. Tomorrow's Thursday. If the day goes really bad, I'll take Friday off and we'll reassess. But I can't run from school; especially not like this. It's not exactly going to get a judge to say 'yes, Ms. Montgomery, you're capable of taking care of yourself without your parents being around'."

Ezra knew she was right, even if he didn't like he idea of her going to be school and being forced to be immersed in all the verbal and physical violence that she'd been dealing with over the last few weeks. Knowing that it had all finally come to a head on Monday wasn't doing a single thing to quell his feelings, either. She'd been so coy and secretive about how bad things really were at school until the night before, when, after resolving all of their differences after Hardy and Adriana left, Aria had told him everything he wanted to know about everything. They'd had an hour-long discussion about A and why she wouldn't go to the police, and why no one knew about A outside of the four girls. She had also admitted that most of her recent bruises were caused by being pushed and shoved around school.

Ezra clenched his jaw for a moment. He wasn't pleased at all that she wanted to go back to school and be surrounded by girls who wanted her blood on their hands. It irritated him even more that he wasn't there to protect her, and that the only people she _did _have there to protect her were Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Mike. He doubted that there was very little the principal would do, and he expected nothing from Ella. The fact that she hadn't done anything to help Aria on Monday only perpetuated that feeling.

"There's absolutely nothing I can do to convince you to stay home at least one more day?" He asked. "Or just stay through the weekend?" Aria giggled and shook her head. "Afraid not. I'm losing my mind sitting here. I need to get back out into the real world and live my life. And staying home is just letting those girls think they've won."

Ezra pouted, shaking his head at her. "Why did I have to fall for a smart girl."

Aria just laughed at him.

_-  
>Your heaven's trying to break me down<br>- _

As it was, Thursday arrived with a full day for Aria. As soon as she was finished with school, she'd be working for five hours at Retta's. The only good thing she'd earned from two days off from school was the time she was given to get her school work done so that she wasn't behind. By the time she'd made her way into school that morning, she'd been awake for nearly two hours. She was dressed white tank top covered in red and black musical notes topped with a white mini sweater and a pair of crimson high-waist shorts. She also had on a black sequined beanie.

Spencer walked up to her as she was stacking things in the bottom of her locker. "I didn't know you were coming back today!"

Aria looked up at her and smiled. "I had to _beg_ Ezra to let me out of the apartment this morning. He's worried about more trouble being caused." Spencer shrugged, crossing her arms as she leaned back against the closed lockers behind her. She had on Bermuda shorts and a vintage Ramones t-shirt. "Maybe he should be. You've still got a giant bruise on your head, among others." Aria pushed up from the floor, grabbing her bag as she did so. She grabbed her coffee from the shelf at the top of her locker and took a sip from it. Her muscles were still sore from Monday's abuse, but she was feeling better than she had Wednesday, and even better than she had on Tuesday.

"Well, running from school because of a bunch of jealous bullies isn't going to get me anywhere, or ensure that I pass my finals in two weeks. Besides, after that, I'll be free of my parents once and for all, and have three months off from all the jealous psychos. Besides, in a few weeks, Gina Ryan won't have any reason left to beat me up. Plus, I've been told I'll have a faculty escort from class to class. I'm just praying its not my mother."

"Aria!"

She and Spencer laughed as she turned around. Hanna was charging down the hall in a pair of platform flipflops. She couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Hanna could actually do that. Soon enough, Hanna's arms were wrapped tightly around her in a hug. The air rushed out of Aria and she winced.

"Okay, Han. I'm still injured, remember?"

Hanna quickly released her and smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I was just so excited."

"You _know_ you could've come over by the apartment to see me," Aria told her.

Hanna nodded. "Yeah I know. I just…"

"She still thinks Fitz is really hot and is jealous that you got him instead of her," Spencer said with a chuckle. Hanna gaped at her.

Aria looked from Spencer to Hanna and giggled. "Seriously?" Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Yes, okay? Your boyfriend is hot, and I think it's even hotter that he used to be our teacher. Every time I'm around Fitz, somehow all that ends up in my head is you two doing things in that classroom."

Aria and Spencer laughed while Hanna just rolled her eyes at them. After they'd calmed from their mirth, Hanna changed the subject.

"So do you really have a giant A on your back?"

Aria looked at Spencer and then back at Hanna again. "Yeah. And I'm praying it doesn't scar. I already look like I've been moshpitting as it is."

The three girls stood there chatting over the next few minutes as the school began to fill with other students. Aria wasn't surprised by the amount of students that looked at her as they walked past. She also wasn't surprised that her name seemed to be muttered repeatedly as they walked past her.

Spencer slipped her arm through Aria's as they headed towards their classroom. "If anyone tries to come at you today, they'll have us to deal with. We won't let Monday happen again."

Aria nodded as they stepped through the doorway. Ella was at the front of the classroom, writing things on the board. She looked over at them and opened her mouth like she was about to say something, but Aria walked past her without giving her any chance to say anything. She walked over to her desk and sat down. Spencer followed after her and sat down in Emily's desk.

"Are we a little moody this morning?" Spencer asked.

Aria looked up at her. "Moody? No. Just reformed." She looked up briefly at Ella shifting things around on the desk at the front of the room. "I'm done waiting for my parents to suddenly realize they still love me. They're not going to change, and sitting here hoping was a waste of time. I-"

"Aria!"

She looked up at the door at the back of the room. Mike was standing there. He waved to her. She looked back at Spencer. "I'll be right back." She slipped out of her desk and walked over to the door, and then stepped out of the classroom and leaned up against the wall. She tucked her hands into her pockets. "What's up?"

Mike shook his head. "I haven't seen you in days! I heard what happened on Monday, but I couldn't get away from mom and dad to come and see you."

Aria shrugged, standing up straight. "Ezra was worried about me being at school. I think if he had his way, I wouldn't be in school for the rest of the year. And besides, I didn't have any real interest in being around Ella. Look, we'll talk more later. I don't need the trouble of being late for class. You want to have dinner tonight? It'll be late, but-"

Mike shook his head, wrapping his arms around her. Aria winced, but she hugged him back just the same.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I'll come eat dinner by you tonight. I'll figure out a way to get away from mom and dad, whatever it takes."

Aria nodded, patting his arm. She turned and walked back into the classroom just before the bell rang, and walked over to her desk. She pulled her things from her bag and opened them up.

Ella shifted things around on her desk and then looked up at all of the students. "I pose you with the same question you were given back in September with To Kill A Mockingbird. If the book represents the idea of innocent, what characters are innocent, and how can you attribute that to your own life. Just the same, what characters are guilty, and how can that attribute to your own life as well. Answers due tomorrow."

Aria furrowed her brow as she stared at a random spot in the room. It seemed to her that talking about her life in the classroom was becoming ever more present lately, and it was starting to irritate her. Even so, she went to work and began writing. Forty minutes later when the bell finally rang, she wasn't finished writing. She was grateful for the first time in weeks that study hall followed her class. As she packed up her bags, Spencer walked up to her.

Ella pushed up from the desk at the front of the room. "Aria?"

"I thought we were going to walk to class together," Spencer murmured.

Aria nodded. "Just give me a moment."

Spencer walked out of the classroom as Aria turned to her mother. "What?"

"I'd like to speak with you at lunch." Ella said.

Aria chuckled softly and let out an annoyed sigh. "I'll pencil that _right_ in," she said. She didn't wait for Ella to say anything else. As she stepped outside the classroom, she found Spencer leaning up against the wall, standing next to Mrs. Groves, their study hall teacher.

"Ms. Montgomery. Nice to see you back at school," she said.

Aria nodded, walking next to her while Spencer stood on the other side of her. They walked silently to class, and Aria was once again subjected to the murmurs and stares of other students while she walked past them. Fortunately refuge quickly came when she reached her classroom. She looked around, but two of the girls who had beaten her up who were in her study hall, were nowhere to be found.

She and Spencer walked over to their seats and sat down.

"Where's Gina and Sadie?" Aria asked.

"They were suspended for three days and they're being transferred to a different study hall," Spencer said. "What'd your mom want?"

Aria shook her head, pulling her English notebook out from her bag. "To talk to me at lunch, which I'm sure is just going to be a stellar conversation. Why is it that every time I feel like I'm so close to shutting the door on my parents, they feel the need to needle their way back in?"

Spencer shrugged, shaking her head. "Who knows. Hopefully it'll get better soon, though."

"God, I hope so," Aria muttered back to her.

She turned her attention to her work as the bell rang and signaled the beginning of class. She was left amazed by the fact that for the first time in weeks, there wasn't anyone making any comments to her about her relationship with Ezra or anything of the sort, though she was it was sure it had more to do with the fact that Mrs. Groves never left the class room during the entire hour.

As the day continued on, she continued to receive curious looks and people continued to talk about her in hushed whispers, but by the time lunch actually rolled around, she had attuned herself to block it all out.

As she walked up to her mother's classroom, a sense of calm seemed to fall over her. All the times she'd had to come see her mother at lunch time in the last few weeks had always left her uncomfortable and upset, like she was about to be scolded or lectured. But as she pushed the door open, she couldn't help but feel like she had all her bearings, and she was going in fully prepared.

She walked over to a desk and leaned against it as Ella finished up a conversation on the phone, giving her a gesture to tell her to wait a moment. Aria scratched lightly at the bandage on her forehead. Ella settled the phone back on the cradle a few moments later, and Aria dropped her hand from her head, crossing her arms in front of her body like it could put up a physical defense between she and her mother.

"What'd you want to talk about this time?" Her tone was aggravated, but she didn't feel bad about it. She was staring at one of the two people in this world who were supposed to keep her safe, and yet her mother had done nothing to protect her just a few days earlier.

"Are you alright?" Ella asked bluntly.

Aria stared at her for several moments Was she serious? Did she really even _care_? This was the very same woman who had watched while a group of girls had kicked and beaten on Aria just three days earlier. "Do you really even care?"

"Of course I do!" Ella said it like Aria should've already known, but as they stared each other down, Aria wasn't sure she entirely trusted her mother. "Aria, you're my daughter. Of course I care if you're hurt."

"Really," Aria asked snidely. "Because it really didn't show when you _watched me get beat up_ three days ago. I mean, were you proud to finally see someone _putting me in my place_? Because I'm sure you agree with those other girls, right? You think I'm a slut just like everyone else does? You think that I deserved what happened? Hell, you probably think Ezra deserved it when Dad and Mike beat him up, right? C'mon Mom, tell me I'm right."

Ella let her speak all of her frustrations out. She knew that Aria had a lot of anger and tension built up from the past few weeks.

"First off," she said when Aria was finished. "I never said I agreed with anything that the other students were saying. Those are their words, Aria, not mine. And I never said Ezra deserved to be beat up. In fact, I highly disagreed with it. As far as Monday afternoon I didn't watch-" "Bull!" Aria cut her off. "I **saw** you standing in the doorway!"

Ella shook her head. "I heard yelling and a lot of noise in the hallway. By the time I got to the door, the principal had already started pulling people apart. I would've come if I had known it had been you." "Right," Aria nodded disbelievingly. "That's why you didn't move when **my friends** took me home. Home, Ella. As in NOT the Montgomery residence. I don't even understand why you wanted me to come in here. It's not like you care about me. You stopped doing that a while ago."

"Aria, I never-"She cut her mother off again. "I really don't want to hear it. Why should I give you the time of day anyway," she said. "You never let me have it. You shut Ezra and I out before we could ever say anything, all because of your flawed logic. You never even gave us a chance. I gave you so many, and now I'm just tired."Mother and daughter stared at each other for several long minutes before Aria finally pushed away from the desk and walked wordlessly out of the room. As she stepped into the hallway and headed towards the lunch room, she couldn't help but feel like a weight had been lifted off her chest. All the words that she'd been burying inside of herself for weeks were finally coming to the surface. She didn't feel like she was keeping her emotions buried anymore.

She walked off towards the commons to join her friends, letting the conversation with her mother fall into the back of her mind.

_-  
>Can you undo goodbye<br>__It's a word I wish I could forget  
>- <em>

As Aria slammed her car door and hit the lock button on her key fob, she was slightly surprised to see that Ezra was just getting out of his own car. She knew that he'd known about her long day, but she had expected that he'd be back home before now.

She smiled and walked towards him as he held the door open for him. "Hey," she murmured. "Why are you so late?"Ezra shrugged, holding a bag of takeout. "Figured I might as well stay at work and get caught up on grading. There was nothing better to do, anyway. How was your day?"Aria walked into the apartment and settled her bag into one of the chairs at the table before pulling off her shoes. "It was okay. The whole teacher escort thing was a little weird, but I didn't mind it. And then Mike came by Retta's and had dinner while I worked, so I got to see him."Ezra nodded. "He's still talking to you? That's good. I wondered if something was up when he wasn't around the last few days."Aria frowned slightly as she took the bag of takeout from Ezra and opened it up. "My parents wouldn't let him go anywhere alone, so he couldn't get away. I guess they must know that he's talking to me."

"Speaking of parents…" Ezra said. "I should tell you something."

"No," Aria said. "Whatever my father said or did, I don't want to know. My mother already tried to talk to me today and ask me if I was okay. I can't let myself keep going down that road. I promised on Tuesday night that I was finished letting them meddle in things, and I intend to stick to that promise. It's not fair to me, and it's definitely not fair to you. And considering I'm trying to get legally emancipated, what does it say about me if I'm still letting my parents meddle in my life? In a few weeks, they aren't going to have any legal say, so why continue to let him have any other sense of a hold over my life?"Ezra nodded, handing her a set of chopsticks as he helped her empty the bag of food. "You're right. I just want to be sure that you're sure you're making the right choice."

Aria nodded, leaning up to kiss him on the lips for the first time since they had gotten home. Ezra wrapped his arm loosely around her waist as he kissed her back, placing his other hand under her chin to tilt her up towards him. They broke apart a few moments later and retired to their bedroom with the cartons of Chinese food that they had taken out. Each of them settled their food on their perspective nightstands and Aria changed into one of Ezra's shirts while he slipped into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt before they both settled on the bed. The TV was still settled in the bedroom, so Ezra turned it on and then they proceeded to spend the next few minutes channel surfing before settling on some crime show that was on one of the channels. Neither of them was actually paying attention to it though.

"How was your school day otherwise," he asked as he dug his chopsticks into some noodles.

Aria chewed on a bite of orange chicken and then swallowed it. "Pretty standard. I didn't see any of the girls who beat me up the other day. I was told they were suspended for three days.""Bet that sucked," Ezra said, though Aria could tell he actually didn't feel any remorse for those girls.

Aria nodded, and then they ate in silence for the next few minutes. They each pretended to watch the TV, but both had their minds in other places. Ezra was still worried about her getting through the last two weeks of the school year, and then what they would do when summer came. Aria would officially be emancipated, given that there were no objections, in less than two weeks.

Aria had her mind on school. She had a lot to do in the last few weeks of the school year. She desperately needed to get her art project over at Hollis done. She hadn't been over there in a while, and she had a lot of work to do still. She knew that she'd have to spare some of her weekend there, along with cramming in study time. On top of that, she also still had her art class at Rosewood, which was requiring her attention as well. All of the students in her class were supposed to be doing a hand drawn collage with the letters of their name, and they were being asked to bring in pictures of themselves when they were younger to include in the project. Aria had only found out after arguing with her mother, which had discouraged her somewhat. She knew she would have to talk to her mother about getting those photos.

The silence was broken again a few moments later when Ezra settled one of his cartons aside and picked up one filled with white rice.

"What's your day look like tomorrow," he asked.

"School, then work from four until seven. Then I'm going to try and get over to Hollis for an hour or so to work on that project I've been neglecting lately. What about you?"

Ezra shrugged. "Classes, classes, and then class with your father. Did I mention more classes? And of course, there's the never-ending stack of paperwork that I always manage to have. You know, one of the reasons I took this job offer was because I was told I'd be given more time for my own writing, but I haven't had **any** time to do that lately. Have you?"

Aria shook her head. One of the corners of her mouth pulled up into a look of discontent. "Seems like every spare minute is sucked up by one thing or another. Like we're always on the run from one place to the next."Ezra nodded. "Well, hopefully the summer will bring some peace and a slower pace. I'm entirely frustrated by the fact that I have all these ideas tumbling around in my head, and no time to write them down."

Silence fell over the couple again as they continued eating, and paying minimal attention to the show on TV. Eventually, when they both felt sated, Ezra moved from the bed and took the empty containers out to the kitchen and tossed them into the trash. He returned to the bedroom a few minutes later with a glass of water and settled into the bed next to Aria. Almost immediately, she was curled up at his side. Ezra chuckled and ran his fingers through her hair as he kissed her forehead before he settled his arm around her, resting his hand on her hip.

They channel surfed again for a bit as they laid there, and then eventually settled on a movie playing on one of the channels. A comforting silence wrapped around them as Aria dozed with her head on Ezra's shoulder. She was grateful to be back to her usual schedule of constantly having something to do. The last few days had been great for her sleep schedule, but they'd done little else to keep her satisfied otherwise.

After a while, Ezra broke the silence, turning off the TV. He could see that Aria was exhausted, so he turned off the lights on either nightstand as well and then settled against her, with his chest to her back.

"I've got a question for you," he said softly.

Aria opened her eyes and adjusted her pillow over her head. She looked up at him. "What might that be?"Ezra kissed her temple and laced his fingers in hers, resting his arm over her torso. "The twenty-eighth is my birthday. I know that's your last day of finals too, but I figured we could plan a trip up to Philadelphia. Spend the weekend there. If you're up for it, I mean. We could come back early if you have to work, but-"Aria turned over and pressed her index finger to his lip. Ezra stared at her for a moment with a surprised look.

"I'd _love_ to," she murmured softly, a smile present on her face. It's sounds great. It'll totally get me out of Hanna's day-after the-last-day-of-school shopping spree. And believe me, she's the reason they came up with the saying 'shop til you drop'."Ezra chuckled. "Are you serious?"

"Freshman year, we all got sick from Hanna's insistence in shopping during a heat wave. We all had heat exhaustion by the end of the day, but Hanna was so happy because, according to her, she saved a fortune."

Ezra took on a perplexed look for a moment, and she could tell he was trying to recall that summer. After a few seconds, he nodded. "I think I remember that. I got the bright idea to go for a run that morning because I didn't think it would be so hot, and ended up passing out in class, and then threw up on an EMT."Aria gaped at him. "You _threw up_ on an EMT?"

Ezra chuckled and nodded. "I had just come to and they had me covered in cooling packs. The heating system in the lecture hall was on the fritz, and it had kicked off. Most of the students had either already cleared out or weren't there to begin with because class attendance that day was optional. It was for the final, but they had agreed to reschedule for the following day and just double up on classes. Anyone's schedule who conflicted with their finals was allowed to come in the following week for make-up's. Anyway, I figured if I got my final done early, then I could make it back to New York in time for Adriana's graduation. I ended up in the ER over night instead so that they could rehydrate me."

Aria sighed and shook her head at him. "What am I going to do with you?"

Ezra shrugged. "Anything but lock me in a box, I hope."Aria giggled. She closed her eyes again and rested her shoulder once more on Ezra's shoulder. He rubbed comforting circles in her back while they laid there. Eventually he began to doze off and Aria shifted back into her original position so that her back was to against his chest. She brought his hand up to her chest, lacing their fingers together again.

She was entirely exhausted, but she couldn't help but feel that Monday's events weren't the last of troublesome and dramatic things to come. She wasn't entirely sure where the feeling was coming from, as nothing during that day had pointed to anything going wrong. In fact, if anything, things seemed to be looking up in every aspect in her life. Even with her parents, where she was forcing herself not to weigh in any hope at all, she was seeing good changes.

School had finally become manageable again. She wasn't being catcalled every time she walked into a hallway or classroom. Even work was going well. Which was what left her questioning her own subconscious. If things were so great, and she was supposed to be truly happy, then why did it feel like the other shoe was about to drop?

For a moment, she considered the idea of A causing trouble for Ezra. That was always a possibility, but there had been no messages since Monday, which actually surprised Aria. If A had targeted her so specifically, then why wasn't there a message of wrath that followed it? Both Hanna and Emily had gotten them when they had been attacked by A.

And then there were about a dozen other people that she knew wanted her head on a chopping block. Aria sighed and shook her head at herself. Lying there wracking her brain over useless nonsense was only depriving her of sleep, not solving anything. There was nothing that she would gain by trying to figure out if something was going to happen _before_ it happened. Things were good for the moment, and she knew that no matter whether she wanted to or not, she simply had to accept that.

And with that thought in mind, she adjusted her pillow once more, and took comfort as Ezra tightened his grip around her. It was a feeling of safety she desperately needed, if only to remind her that everything in that moment was alright and perfectly fine. A few minutes later, she was asleep.


	24. This Little Girl Is Capable Of Murder

__**A/N: I come with this update because I felt like sharing...And because I needed to say this: **

**Jills:** While I understand your review, that wasn't my intention when I wrote that line. The intention behind it was that Ezra is worried about her getting hurt at school. He wasn't doing it in a parental way; he was worried about her getting hurt. It was intended to mean that he was nervous about her going back to school so quickly, whereas Aria wanted to face everything head-on. I hope that makes sense...

That said, I'm ALWAYS grateful for the reviews you guys give. I'm so excited for you guys to see chapter 25. It's coming quickly!

_Chapter 23_

_This Little Girl Is Capable Of Murder If You Hurt Her_

Aria stared at the wall with her arms crossed. She had been doing so well keeping her distance between herself and her parents. She was so set in her place, that she wasn't going to let them back in like she had so many times before in the last few weeks. And just as easily as it had been for them so many times before lately, it seemed to be happening again, and it made her sick to her stomach.

It wasn't necessarily because she wanted it to happen. She had gone to her mother at the end of the school day to let her know that she needed some photos from home of herself as a younger kid. Her intention was to just to ask for a few spares lying around, that Ella could bring in on Monday, but Ella had knuckled her way in further than that. Aria could tell that her mother seemed to honestly be sorry for what had happened on Monday, but that didn't make her feel any better.

She exhaled a long breath and shook her head, looking down at Ezra. He was fast asleep next to her with his arm draped across her lap. She chewed on the inside of her bottom lip as she stared at him for a few moments and then slipped out of the bed. She grabbed her laptop from the floor and then walked out of the bedroom, pulling the door shut behind her.

The apartment was dark, so she moved her feet slowly across the floor, making sure she wouldn't bump into anything as she made her way to the couch. When she finally approached it, she settled her laptop on top of it, and then walked around it to the seats. She pulled down the blanket over the back of it and wrapped it around herself before she sat down and opened it up.

It was after eleven, so she had no clue why she was even awake as it was. She had to work the next day, and her friends were probably already asleep. Even so, she couldn't get her mind to shut off, and she was hoping that a little internet surfing would help cure that.

Once it was properly loaded up, she opened her browser and her instant messenger. She made sure to open both her Hollis page and her SocialPage, and then turned her attention back to her instant messenger. Hanna and Emily weren't online, but Spencer and Adriana were.

She clicked on Spencer's name, intending to send her a message. Spencer beat her to the punch.

**HastyHastings: What's lil miss Montgomery doing awake at 11 PM on a Friday night? Wait, let me rephrase that… Why are you ONLINE at 11 PM on a Friday night? Shouldn't you be **_**in bed**_** with Fitz? **

Even though she laughed at the comment, Aria couldn't help but roll her eyes at what Spencer was suggesting. Sometimes she wondered if her friends thought that, because she was living under the same roof with Ezra now, that all they ever did when they were alone together was have sex. And it wasn't to say that she minded having sex with him. She always enjoyed herself, and it made her feel closer to him than anything else did. But even so, they weren't doing it as often as her friends liked to believe that they were.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: You know, Spence, Ezra and I aren't rabbits. We're not on each other constantly like everyone seems to think. We're just like any other couple who lives together. We do laundry, we eat takeout…And we sleep because we both have long days. **

She moved her mouse over to her instant messenger list and clicked on Adriana's name. She stared at the blank IM for a few moments before she began to type.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: What is Lady Fitz doing online on a Friday night? **

Almost immediately, she got a reply.

**LadyFitz92: I could ask you the same question, lol. Hiding from arguments with the boyfriend. What're YOU doing awake?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Couldn't sleep. Lots to think about.  
><strong>**LadyFitz: Ahh. You DO have a lot of important stuff coming up soon, don't you?**

Aria exhaled a long breath and looked back to her browser. She stared at her Hollis page with a bored expression. Most of the girls that she was friends with on the site had made posts about studying late, although a few had made comments about going out to burn off some steam.

She clicked on the search bar, and then went to her father's page. She'd never sent him a friend request on the site, mostly for the sake of not needing him to know about the conversations she was having with Ezra. As with any other social media site, they had the option of making their entire page private, save for a picture and a name. Ezra's had limited viewing for his students, but Aria had hers entirely blocked from outsiders. It was comforting to her, to know that her parents couldn't see anything she was posting.

Byron's page loaded a few moments later, and she stared at it for a few moments. Her IM's blinked behind her browser, alerting her she had messages, but she couldn't help but stare.

Her father's default photo was one of she and him from Christmas break. They had gone up to Philadelphia for the day and done a little post-Christmas shopping, taking part in the craziness of boxing day sales. She had spent a large chunk of the money various relatives had given her for Christmas on new clothes and various pairs of boots, and then afterwards they had headed to a nearby starbucks for coffee. It had just been the two of them, while Mike had opted to hang out with his friends.

They had been standing outside, discussing what they were going to do next, when Byron had waved down a fellow customer and asked the man to take a photo of he and Aria. Aria remembered how she'd felt bad when she saw the picture later, and people had commented on how happy she looked. Her father hadn't known it, but she'd just received a text from Ezra telling her that he and Adriana were headed back to Rosewood. She hadn't known yet that he had the flu. Regardless, it had bothered her slightly that people assumed she was so happy to be enjoying a day with her father, when the reason she was so happy was Ezra.

But as she looked at it now, she couldn't help but feel justified in her feelings that day. After all, they really hadn't been as happy as they looked. They'd been arguing for most of the day as it was over the fact that Mike refused to go spend any time with their mother. Aria kept trying to tell her parents that they just needed to give it time, but they were both trying to pressure Mike into just giving in and going to see Ella.

Her screen began to dim from lack of use, and she shook her thoughts out of her head, shaking her finger back and forth a few times on the touchpad. The screen brightened up again. She clicked on her IM with Spencer.

**HastyHastings: Oooh laundry. In a dryer.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Alright, Dane Cook.  
><strong>**HastyHastings: Alright, slow it down there, pay-cable.**

Aria laughed softly and shook her head. Just like anyone else, when Spencer launched into a comedy rant, she was tough to stop, and for as vulgar as he could be, they all loved to repeat Dane Cook's acts.

She clicked on her IM with Adriana. She'd simply replied to her question about the things coming up in the next few weeks for Aria with a 'mmhmm'. Decidedly, she didn't want to talk about herself, so she had quickly changed the subject to Adriana.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: So what's your beef tonight? I thought things were all sunshine and daisies since we went to New York.  
><strong>**LadyFitz92: I wish! We've been arguing over stupid stuff, as ridiculous as it is. My friends are going to Florida the week after finals are over, and they want me to come along. Hardy isn't sold on the idea. He thinks I'll cheat on him while I'm gone.**

Aria exhaled a long breath as she read the reply again to herself. She couldn't deny that she and Ezra had had the very same conversation on several occasions, because of his past with Jackie. More than once, he'd questioned whether she was actually doing what she said she was doing, especially when it was a situation that meant she would be out of town. In early February, she'd gone on a class trip overnight to Philadelphia, and Ezra had questioned whether she'd flirted with any guys while she was gone. She'd put her foot down after that and told that if he didn't trust her to be honest with him, then their relationship was going to fail. The questions seemed to stop after that.

She placed her fingers on the keyboard and began to type tentatively.

**ShadesOfGreyxx: If you're truly happy and nothing of the sort really won't happen while you're gone, then I'd say the best thing to do is put him in his place. I'm sure the fear comes from his own past discretions, but maybe he needs to be reminded in a more firm way that you're not the same as he is.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Ezra would probably kill me for telling you this, but I had to do the same with him. He was so worried for such a long time that I would make the same choices as Jackie did. Finally, I got sick of his constant questioning when I wasn't doing anything wrong, so I told him that if it didn't stop, we were 92: Seems a bit extreme, don't you think?  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: How badly do you want the arguing and constant questioning to stop?  
><strong>**LadyFitz92: Good point.**

**ShadesOfGreyxx: I'm not saying to be exactly like me and say all the same things. I'm just saying that if he refuses to listen to reason when you're arguing, then maybe you need to use a different approach. It's unfair for you to be on the chopping block because he made choices in the past that make him question whether other people can be loyal. You're not him.  
><strong>**LadyFitz92: You're very wise for a seventeen year old. Thanks.**

Aria giggled and typed back a thanks before turning her attention back to her father's page. Most of his posts were work related that she could see, so she scrolled further down, curious to see what was in his history. As she did, she came across some of the same things she'd seen in her feed over the past few weeks from some of her friends.

She found something very familiar and stopped to read the comment her father had posted with it.

_Byron Montgomery: Certainly not as irrelevant as some professors are making this out to be. This is a serious problem.  
><em>_(linked) Click Here: Late-Breaking News: student-Teacher Relations Spike - Hollis Press_

It sickened her to read those words, and she couldn't help but feel like her father was being entirely hypocritical. Her father had carried on a relationship with a student just two years earlier. Aria had never even asked him how long the relationship had gone on.

She shook her head and clicked back onto her main page. Yet again her feed was covered in posts about late-night studying and partying. Some girls had even started to post photos. She clicked on Adriana's name and went to her page.

She smiled at the photo that showed up on the top left corner. It was one from the weekend before. Aria and Adriana were facing each other with their heads turned towards the camera, and Ezra and Hardy were standing behind each of them. They all had their arms wrapped around each other and they were all smiling. Hardy had asked one of the many people in the crowd that day to take a photo of the four of them.

Aria looked at the top post on Adriana's feed, and she had to cover her mouth so that she didn't burst out laughing at the post. The comments only made her struggle harder to hold in her giggles.

_Adriana Fitz: Starting to wonder how long it's going to take HC to fire that psycho bitch that calls herself a teacher. I swear she's stalking my brother. Go away lost puppy! Your owner went in the other direction!_

_**Cara Abbot: Wait, are you talking about the psychology teacher?**_

_**Adriana Fitz: I'm not naming names on here. Call me. **_

_**Valerie Bokan: I swear every time I see her, she's trying to go into his room. I mean does she need medical attention or something? It's creepy!**_

_**Adriana Fitz: You're preaching to the choir. And she talks about his current gf like she's a leper or something. You wouldn't know it by the way she talks about her, but she's actually a really sweet girl. **_

_**Sierra Spencer: I've heard her talking about his gf! Heard her say something the other day about her. Something to do with being put in her place and getting what she deserved. Like wtf? And what actually happened to her? Is she okay?**_

_**Adriana Fitz: Mmm. Just a bit banged up. Give me a ring. Don't want to go into detail on here. **_

_**Valerie Bokan: She's a psycho Barbie gone wrong in the machinery. She's not even that pretty, especially not compared to the new girl he's with. **_

Aria couldn't deny that what she was reading made her feel good. After the week she'd had with school and with her parents, it felt good to know that some people didn't think she was the scum of the earth.

Her IM's were blinking at attention again, and she put her page down to the bottom of the screen. She clicked on Adriana's IM.

**LadyFitz92: Thanks for the talk. It helped a lot. I'm going to try and get some sleep now. You should to.  
><strong>**ShadesOfGreyxx: Thanks. I just might do that. Sleep tight!**

_LadyFitz92 has signed off. _

Aria clicked on Spencer's IM, and received similar messages. She said good night to her as well, and then signed out of her Instant Messaging client. There was no use in being online if no one else was around to talk.

She closed the lid of her computer quietly and settled it on the coffee table, and then let the blanket wrapped around her fall onto the couch as she pushed up from it. She crossed the room and walked back into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She walked over to the bed and slipped underneath the blankets. Almost immediately, Ezra's arms reached out and wrapped around her slender frame. She snuggled up against him and rested her head on his shoulder, kissing his temple. He groaned softly and opened his eyes to half-slits to look up at her momentarily before he closed his eyes again.

"Timeisit?" He slurred.

"Just after midnight," Aria whispered. "Shh. Just sleep."

"You okay?" He asked, ignoring her order.

"I'm fine," she insisted softly. "Go back to sleep. That's what I'm doing."

_-  
>It's never the glory, its never the score<br>__It's not about seeing who's less and who's more  
>- <em>

Aria didn't sleep well. She tossed and turned for most of the night, and in the end, she was still awake by six AM. There was too much on her mind to keep her resting. The irritation of her parents antics was making her restless, and she couldn't seem to get out of her head, regardless of how hard she tried. She tried for nearly an hour to study for the exams that would be rolling around in less than two weeks, but her brain kept being led astray by other things.

Just after nine AM, Ezra walked out of the bedroom. He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen and filled a cup with coffee. He added creamer and sugar and then walked back out by Aria.

"It's Saturday. I'm always up before you are on Saturdays," he said wearily.

Aria shook her head, brushing her fingers into her hair. "I couldn't sleep. I can't focus on anything, I'm…" Her voice trailed off and she exhaled hard.

Ezra pulled his chair around the table and sat down next to Aria. He ran his hand down the back of her head, resting it just under the base of her neck. "Obviously someone got inside your head. Who? Is it that A person?" Aria shook her head. She couldn't help but laugh, too. A was almost always on her mind, or at least he, she, it, used to be. In the last few days, most of her dominant thoughts had been taken over by her parents and their sudden shift in their view of her. For weeks they had treated her like crap, only to change their minds when she got abused by other students? She couldn't figure out how, on what planet, that made sense.

"I must be a glutton for punishment," she said, waving her hands in front of her. "Otherwise, why else do I waste my time letting my parents _stupid _antics continue to suck me back into their grasp?" Ezra shook his head, brushing her hair out of her face. "You're not stupid, _or_ a glutton for punishment. You're the child of parents that you love." He took a drink from his coffee cup and then settled it on the table and rested a hand between his legs, gripping the edge of the chair.

"So? My parents track record has been less than exemplary lately," Aria said.

Ezra sighed, biting his tongue for a moment. "You know my dad was abusive, right?" Aria nodded.

"Well, for the last fifteen years almost, I thought my sister was too young to remember what he did. I thought, she must have blocked it out, because we were so close. I thought she didn't want to remember what he did when he was hitting me and my mom. But when we were in New York last weekend, I found out that she **did **remember."

"Okay? How does that relate to this?" Aria asked.

"Adriana doesn't hide the fact that she adored our father. And if he had treated me the way he treated her, I probably would have, too. Anyway, it's been bugging me since last week when she said she acted like he was the greatest father on the planet, so yesterday I asked her why she does. She told me as much as she loved our dad, she's always been conflicted. She said every time she tried to be angry and not care, that just made it harder."

Aria shook her head. "I'm still confused-" Ezra chuckled as he exhaled. "I mean that you had such an easy time these last few days because you weren't thinking about how your parents felt or what they thought. All of your emotions were focused on what they _didn't_ do for you."

"Well whether I let them get to me or not, I can't seem to win either way," Aria said

Ezra smirked. "Stop trying to win. Just go about your life the best you can. Trying to do anything else is just going to make you crazy."

"Thanks," Aria said sarcastically. "You've been so helpful."

Ezra laughed. He leaned forward and kissed Aria's temple before picking up his cup of coffee and taking several large gulps out of it. "And pull your head out of the books, too." He flipped the US History book she had open, shut.

Aria gaped at him. "There is _no _way a judge is going to grant emancipation for me if I bomb my finals."

"And you're going to fail your finals if you keep your head constantly buried in textbooks. You've spent enough time studying lately. Now turn around."

Aria raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head. "What in the world-"

Ezra glared at her. "Just do it."

Aria shook her head at him and pushed up from her seat. She turned the chair so that she could face the back of it, and then sat back down. A few seconds later, Ezra's hands were gripped around her shoulders, pressing into her spine. Aria groaned as he began to move his fingers, massaging the knots under her skin.

"I gotta be to work at one," she whined.

"No," Ezra said. "What you've _gotta_ do is relax. Now close your mouth and shut up before I do unspeakable things to you," he said with a wicked smirk covering his face.

Aria looked out the corners of both her eyes suspiciously as she closed her mouth. The fact that he so easily could predict what she was going to do was a slightly odd feeling, but as his fingers moved towards the middle of her back, the thoughts fell away. Her aching muscles seemed to release their tension, and after a quarter of an hour, she was thoroughly relaxed.

Aria yawned.

"Feeling like you can rest now," Ezra asked before he pressed a kiss into her shoulder.

Aria nodded. She waited until he had pulled away from her before she moved out of the chair and walked over to the bedroom. She stopped at the doorway, turning to look back at him. "Thanks. That actually helped."

"It's what I'm here for," he replied.

_-  
>I'm three steps from the edge<br>__Don't push me over it  
>- <em>

The afternoon came and went swiftly, and before Aria knew it, her Saturday was gone. She worked her shift at the café and then headed back home, with plans to share dinner with the four girls while Ezra graded papers. She knew his intention was to stay locked inside the bedroom for most of the evening, but she wasn't quite sure how well that plan was going to work. Ezra knew of the girls' tendencies to get loud when they were together, and with summer so close on the horizon, senioritis was certainly looking to kick in early. Granted, Aria was pretty sure Hanna had had senioritis since freshman year.

She pushed the door open to the apartment while juggling a large bag filled with food, and walked inside. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily followed in tow behind her. Each of them was talking in such a jumble that she was only catching bits and pieces. She had to take a moment as she settled the bag of the food on the table to process through their words.

There had been something about Caleb, and then going to see a baby. And then something about whipped cream and a swimming pool. Caleb was going to see a baby in a swimming pool? And what about whipped cream?"Wait," Aria finally said loudly to the girls. "Slow down and talk one at a time. What is Caleb doing?"

"He's taking summer classes at Hollis," Hanna said. "Stuff on IT. Computer stuff, you know?" Aria nodded. She turned to Spencer. "Then what was everything about babies? And a swimming pool? Oh, and I swear I heard something about whipped cream."

"Melissa asked me to go with her to her next sonogram," Spencer said. "I was telling you that I'm going to get to see the baby."

Aria's face lit up. "Really? That's so cool, Spencer!" She hugged her best friend. Even though all of the girls still detested Ian, and didn't trust him, Aria knew that there was nothing that Spencer wanted more than to be on good terms with her sister, once and for all. She genuinely hoped that this baby could do that for them.

Finally, she turned to Emily for a brief moment while she started pulling food out of the bag. "So that leaves you, Em. What did I miss?"

"I said that Paige and I were going to swim in her back yard this afternoon, but before we went out to get in the pool, we were going to have a snack. We ended up in a food fight, and I had whipped cream in my hair."

Aria raised an eyebrow at Emily, chuckling. "Really? Whipped cream?"

Emily nodded. Aria passed each of her friends the things that they had ordered for dinner, and then they moved to the sitting area. Aria sat on the end of the couch while Spencer sat next to her, and both Emily and Hanna sat on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

"So how much did it take to get Spencer away from her text books," Aria giggled as she took a bite from her cheeseburger.

"I didn't-"

"I had to promise her we'd spend Wednesday afternoon studying all night," Hanna whined. "Caleb and I had plans for Wednesday night." She shot a glare at Spencer.

"Do we need to rehash the conversation we had a few weeks ago," Spencer asked. "Because I know for a fact that you haven't spent much time at all studying for finals. They're in less than two weeks and after _your _grades last semester-" "Alright, alright," Hanna said. "I get it."

"What about you?" Spencer said, turning to Aria. "Are you studying?"

"Every free minute," Aria said with a nod. "I've got to get over to Hollis this week and finish up my stool, and then finish my art project for school too."

"The list of things to do never ends, does it?" Hanna murmured.

Aria laughed. "Nope. There's always another day, with more things to do."

"Now now, ladies. Don't throw in the towel now. You're only seventeen!"

Aria turned her head to see Ezra walking out of the bedroom. He seemed to be chuckling at their current discussion.

"Sure," she replied. "This coming from the senior editor of his high school paper **and** yearbook in his senior year, who caught mono two months before graduation. You were never exhausted by life's constant drive?"

Ezra shook his head as he walked over to the kitchen. "Nope. I loved every minute that I was in the English department in high school. I didn't mind the work." He disappeared around the corner and Aria couldn't help but laugh as she watched each of her friends roll their eyes.

"You were another Spencer, weren't you Fitz?" Hanna called out. "Took in your textbooks like water? Studied like it was going out of style?"

Ezra came out of the kitchen a moment later carrying a bottle of water. "I paid attention in class and I passed my classes with high scores, yes. But I'll tell you this: I bombed calculus twice."

"And that's why he's an English teacher," Hanna laughed with a teasing voice. Aria gaped at her with awe and disbelief that she would make such a comment.

"Oh c'mon, it was a joke," Hanna insisted.

Ezra shook his head, walking over to Aria and wrapping his arm around her. "It's fine, Hanna," he said with a laugh. "I never dreamed of being an actuary or a doctor, so it didn't really matter."

He leaned down and kissed Aria's head, rubbing his hand up and down her back a few times. "I've gotta run out and meet Hardy for a bit. I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Alright," Aria murmured as she looked up at him. Ezra tilted his head down kissing her chastely on the lips.

"What the hell is an actuary?" Hanna asked Spencer. Spencer and Emily laughed and shook their heads at her.

Ezra walked out of the room, and then a few minutes later, he exited the apartment, leaving the four of them alone.

"Ohh, smooch-y smooch-y, Aria!" Hanna teased as she tossed a fry at her. Aria blushed, but laughed none the less, shaking her head as her friends teased her.

"You want to spend the night, Han?" Aria taunted. "I'm sure I can arrange some _extra curricular_ activities to do with Ezra for the night."

Hanna's face was the one to turn bright red this time, though Aria was a little confused when she also saw Spencer's cheeks pink up.

"What're you blushing for?" She asked, poking Spencer in the side.

Spencer just shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Aria looked at her suspiciously for a few moments, before letting her curiosity drop. The girls continued eating their meals and chatted with small talk about the weeks to come. Everyone was starting to solidify their plans for the summer. Hanna was taking a trip with Mona and her family down to Florida the week after school let out, and Spencer was going to be splitting time between taking a class at Hollis, and staying with Melissa for a few weeks for the summer. Emily had her sights set on Texas for a few weeks to spend with her mother.

They were all equally nervous about what 'A' might do; especially to Aria, as it seemed like she was the only one who was going to be around for the summer. She insisted to her friends that she would be alright as she ushered them out the door a few hours later. Ezra had yet to return, but she didn't mind it. In some ways, she'd come to enjoy the time she spent alone in the apartment. As much as she loved living with him, there was something nice and comforting about being alone and spending time with yourself. It was usually around those times that she pampered herself with a manicure/pedicure, or enjoyed a bubble bath. Granted, those had been far and few between, but she didn't mind it because there was a flip side to being alone and enjoying it, and that flipside had a name. Or at least a letter.

Aria shook away the thoughts of A as she wiped down the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen and tossed the wash cloth into the sink before walking over to the trash and dumping out the crumbs she'd wiped off the table.

She supposed, if this had to be the life she got to have in trade for what she lost with the one she had with her parents, then it wasn't all that bad, and she'd take it without any questions.


	25. The Last Thing On Your Mind

__**A/N: **You guys are so spoiled... I'm going home. Might post chapter 25 tomorrow! :)

_Chapter 24_

_The Last Thing On Your Mind_

Monday came with an eagerness to test Aria's frustrations. As promised, her mother brought photos. But rather than bringing in just a few for Aria to choose from, she brought an entire album that she'd been putting together since Aria was a baby. At lunch time, she found herself standing in her mother's classroom, flipping through the album.

She picked up her sub sandwich off the desk and took a bite out of it as she flipped past a page filled with baby photos of her. She chuckled as she stared down at a photo of she and Mike. He was a little over a year, and it was her third birthday. They were both covered in cake frosting. She was also missing her two front teeth.

Ella was moving books into boxes on the desk next to Aria's. She looked over at the photo and chuckled. "I remember that birthday. You broke your tooth-" "Running into the end of the table," Aria said with a laugh. "There was blood all over my dress."

"Your grandmother went _nuts_ when that happened. She was so sure that you'd go back to daycare the next morning and that someone would say you'd been hit."

Aria smiled, turning the page. She came across a photo of she and Spencer from the first grade. Nearby was a photo of she, Hanna, and Alison. She ran her fingers down the photo.

After a bit of procrastination, she finally decided on a few. She flipped the book back to the front page, where her youngest photos were. She still hadn't decided on a baby photo. There was the option of taking one which showed Ella holding her. She was about a month in the photo, and Ella had her cradled in her arms. Next to that photo was a picture of her from the same day, except Byron was holding her. He was cradling her as well, but she was awake, and he was smiling at the camera.

Near the bottom of the page was a photo of her a few months older, up on her hands and knees smiling and attempting to crawl. Given the current situation with her parents, she decided on that one. She pulled the flap of the album back and pulled the photo free. She flipped the album shut once she had the photo, and then settled it on the desk and tucked the photos into her bag. She wrapped her sandwich up and grabbed it off the desk. "Thanks."

"Aria."

Aria ignored her mother's voice, walking over to the door. She reached out for the door handle, but Ella repeated her name, this time more firmly.

"What?" She said, annoyed. She turned in her spot and looked back at her mother. "What is it that you want _so bad_?"

Ella stared back at her for a long moment, and wondered if the conversation was a lost cause. After all that had gone on in the last month, she wondered if maybe things had finally gone too far to fix anything.

"You know your father and I still care about you," she said.

Aria shook her head, struggling to hold in her laughter at her mother's comment. "Actually, I **don't**. Where were you, mom? Where were you when I was getting shoved into lockers? When a group of girls kicked me to the floor last week? When _all_ I wanted was for you to **listen** to Ezra and me about our relationship. I **needed** you to be on my side, and you shut me out and kicked me out of my own home!" Ella folded her hands in front of her and pressed her lips together, taking a deep breath. "Your relationship with Ezra-" "I already **know** what you think of my relationship with Ezra!" Aria told her. "And I don't care anymore. I don't care that you don't like it or that you think I should be with someone my own age, because after everything that's happened Ezra was **there**. And he never told me I had to leave or I wasn't welcome anymore."

Aria turned back to the door again and reached once more to open it. Her hand rested on the doorknob, but Ella spoke once again.

"I understand that, but I wish that you would give me a chance to listen now." Ella said. "I still care about you, Aria, and so does your father. We just want you to give us that chance."

"After all this time?' Aria asked. Her voice was raw and strained. She didn't understand why her parents wanted her to talk now, after weeks of nothing. She shook her head. "I don't know. It's one thing for me to have a relationship with Mike. It's another to let you and dad back in."

"Aria-" Aria shook her head, looking back once more at her mother as she finally pushed the door open. "Wishing is just waiting on something that's never going to happen. I should know."

_-  
>In the shadow, here I am<br>__And I need someone by my side  
>- <em>

Aria walked into class on Tuesday morning with very little resolve to say anything to her mother. Her mind was swimming with all of the things that her mother was bombarding her with the last few days. It didn't help that her father also seemed to be trying to reach out as well. The sudden change was like whiplash to her after all that had happened.

She settled into her desk and pulled her notebook out. She opened it to a fresh page and then uncapped a pen placed it on the end of the pen. She chewed on the end of it as she stared down at the blank page. Writing usually let her expel all of her pent-up feelings, but she didn't even know where to begin with everything going through her head.

Just a week before, her parents were absolutely useless to help either she or Ezra in their own respective situations, and now it was like a light switch flipped.

She'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that a part of her **wanted** her parents to wake up and realize they still cared about her. She'd wanted that for weeks. But the constant back and forth in her own mind with all of the things that had happened was making her nuts, and it was a lot easier to shut her parents out the way they had shut her out, than to open up her emotions and let them back in after the ways they had hurt her.

She heard footsteps, and looked up. Ella walked into the classroom. She looked back at Aria as she crossed through the doorway, but then walked to the desk at the front of the room, wordlessly. Aria looked back down at her notebook.

The room was awkwardly silent for a while as she sat and stared at her blank notebook page. Ella said nothing, and Aria made no move to say anything either. As like any other day though, eventually students began to file into the classroom. Aria finally looked up when Spencer, Hanna, and Emily walked in, ten minutes before class was set to start. They each walked over to her. Hanna sat on Aria's left, while Emily sat in her regular desk, and Spencer sat in the desk in front of Aria.

"Why did you come in here before us?" Spencer asked. "Your mom-" "Wouldn't say anything unless she wanted to start an argument that the entire junior class could hear," she replied. "She's upset with me, and that's great. It's exactly what I want."

"You _want_ your mother upset with you," Spencer asked quietly. "What do you have to gain by keeping her angry with you?"

Aria dropped her pen onto her desk and folded her hands over her notebook. "Keeping my parents angry with me leaves them too upset to say anything to me about anything that's gone on these last few months."

"Okay?" Hanna said. "Wha…" She shook her head, not quite sure what to say in response to Aria.

"You're supposed to be getting emancipated in a week," Spencer emphasized softly. "What if things-" Aria shook her head at her best friend. "Things aren't going to change in one week, Spence. And I'm not going to let my parents start meddling in things that they don't, and **refuse** to understand. I need _more_ distance between them and myself, not less. If they really cared about me, it wouldn't have taken the things that it did for them to realize what I 'supposedly' mean to them."

"You're sure you're not going to regret this when it's all said and done," Hanna asked. "I mean, yeah, it's just a week to us, but for you, in a week, your parents won't have any legal say in your life anymore. And you know how parents can be if they lose a child to emancipation."

Before Aria could say anything else, Ella spoke up and told everyone to get to their seats. A few minutes later, the bell rang and class began. She had very little power to focus on what her mother was talking about, though.. The things her friends had said continued to run through her head repeatedly. She remembered being thirteen, and hanging out almost every day with Alison at her house. Jason and Melissa had shared a mutual friend who had gotten emancipated at sixteen. His parents had been neglectful for years, and he had finally mustered up the courage to get out on his own just a few weeks after his sixteenth birthday. It had helped him get into a situation where he was better surrounded by people who could help him, but detrimentally affected his relationship with his parents.

As the day passed, she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head of how that might affect her relationship with her parents. For over a month, emancipation seemed like the logical thing to do. Her parents wouldn't let her come home, and things had been strained. But Hanna's words repeated over and over in her head like a bad pop song. What if she _was_ making the wrong choice?

Eventually the day came to a close, and she spent most of the afternoon at Hollis, having the afternoon off to work on her art project. She was almost finished with it when Ezra joined her in the room.

"You've been quiet all day." Aria looked up at him as she settled a paintbrush into a Styrofoam filled with water. She grabbed a paint-covered paper towel off the table and wiped her fingers off. She tossed the cloth back onto the table.

"I've got a lot on my mind," she said softly. She placed her hands under the seat of the stool and moved it off the table. She walked over to one of the shelves where projects were placed to dry, and she settled it on one of the shelves.

Ezra leaned up against the doorframe and tucked his hands into his pockets. "You've got more than a lot on your mind. You've never been this distant with me."

Aria shook her head at him as she walked back over to the table. She picked up her cup of water and the paper towel and walked over to the wastepaper bin. She dumped the water down a large sink and then tossed both away.

"It doesn't matter," she insisted. She walked back over to the table and grabbed her bag and phone off of it and then walked over to the door. Ezra stood up straight and stepped out of the room as Aria came to stand in front of him.

"I'd say it does," he replied. "Whatever it is that's bothering you obviously isn't something that doesn't matter."

Aria shook her head, and things were relatively silent between them as they walked towards his office. When they reached it, Aria pushed the door open and walked over to the couch. She sat down on it while Ezra pulled the door shut behind them and then walked over and sat down next to her.

"I really wish you would tell me what's wrong," Ezra said.

Aria looked up at him - looking back and forth between his eyes as she contemplated what to say, if anything at all. Ezra reached forward and grabbed both of her hands in his own.

"You know there's nothing you can't tell me. I'm not going to tell you you're wrong for feeling something."

"It's not that I feel like I'm doing something wrong," she said softly. "I just feel stupid. And seriously conflicted." She said.

"About your parents?"

Aria shook her head, trying to ward off the tears that were threatening to fall. "You know, all this time that we've been dealing with this crap because of my parents, I was so sure about stuff.. I was absolutely sure that I was making all the right decisions and that I couldn't be wrong because my parents weren't there for me."

Ezra nodded understandingly. "So you're questioning whether getting emancipated is the right thing to do?"

Aria looked down at the floor. "I never thought any of this would happen. For all of the things that I considered would happen when we told my parents about us, this wasn't one of them. I never thought we'd end up in a situation like this. And I **hate** that after all this time, my parents suddenly decided they want to change their minds. It gives me a headache and makes me sick to my stomach, just thinking about it all."

Ezra tilted his head towards hers and reached a hand up under her chin to make her look up at him. "Then maybe you should consider whether you're actually making the right choice."

"I-" Ezra shook his head at her. "Don't. Don't dismiss what I'm telling you. In a week, you're going to be standing in a court room with a really important decision to make. You need to be sure that you're making the right choice. I'm not going to be angry, regardless of the choice that you make."

"Are you sure?" Aria's voice shook.

Ezra nodded. He reached up and pushed her hair out of her face, cupping her face in his hands. "Regardless of the choice you make, it's the right one for **you**. All I care about is that you're happy. Everything else will fall into place like it should."

Aria nodded. Her shoulders drooped slightly with relief. One of her biggest fears had been that if she wavered at all in her decision, that she would lose Ezra. After all, her parents had reacted that way.

She looked back up at him, brushing the thoughts to the back of her mind. "I know this sounds incredibly cliché, especially now, but how was your day?"

Ezra shook his head, forcing a smile. "It was fine. Nothing special."

"You sure?" Aria asked.

Ezra nodded. "Typical day in my life."

Aria narrowed her eyes at him. "Okay, I know you as well as you know me. So why are you lying to me?"

"It's _really_ doesn't matter," Ezra insisted.

Aria shook her head at him. "I'm pretty sure you said the same thing last week when I asked you about the bruise on your face." Her jaw dropped slightly. "Is that it? Did someone-" Ezra shook his head. "No. No one hit me. There wasn't any physical fighting."

"Then what?" Aria asked.

"I don't want you worrying about things that aren't important with everything that's already going on. You've got finals next week, and-" "And nothing," Aria insisted. "What is it? My dad? Did my dad say something? Or someone else? Hardy? Adriana? Jackie?"

Saying Jackie's name had been a stretch for Aria. She hadn't seemed to make any waves for them since the first week after Aria and Ezra had told her parents about their relationship. Even so, she knew that she shouldn't have entirely been surprised when Ezra opened his mouth to say that it **was** her that was causing trouble.

"It's that big of a deal," he said with insistence. "She's jealous, so she's trying to stir up trouble. The best thing to do is ignore it. Otherwise you'll just be letting her win, and that's what she wants."

Aria shook her head at him. "So I'm just supposed to sit back and let it be okay that she's making threats to you? You could lose your job-" Ezra shook his head, placing a finger over her lips. "She's not going to do _anything_. She may be a little crazy, but Jackie knows there's no place for her in my life. She knows she can't get what she wants by threatening anyone or doing anything stupid."

"When people can't get what they want by being stupid, they usually employ other methods," Aria said in a reminding tone.

Ezra raised an eyebrow at her. "And what makes you so sure about that?" "I watch all the crime dramas," she said assuredly. "CSI, Law And Order, Criminal Minds… At least when I have the time."

Ezra chuckled. "Well I assure you, Jackie is nothing to worry about. Don't waste your time. I certainly don't." He pushed up from the couch and walked over to his desk and began gathering this things so that they could leave.

Aria pushed up from her spot on the couch and slipped the straps to her bag up her arm, onto her shoulder. She tapped on the screen of her phone, checking for new text messages. There weren't any.

"Really? You're not worried that one day she's going to make good on all her threats that she's made?" Aria asked.

Ezra chuckled, looking up at her as he stuffed a book into his bag. "Jackie's bark is worse than her bite, I promise. She can talk a lot of smack, but she can rarely back it up. Our failed engagement should be proof enough for you."

"Do you ever wish it hadn't failed?" Aria asked suddenly. The words came out of her mouth before she was even aware of what she was saying, and she wasn't quite sure why she was even asking. Yet, once the words were out of her mouth, a part of her actually wanted to know.

Ezra gave her an odd look. "Where did _that_ come from?"

Aria shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. "I don't really know. But do you?" He sighed and shook his head, walking over to her. He wrapped his arm around her and led her towards the door. "Never. Not even for a split second."

_-  
>When the time comes,<br>__Baby don't run, just kiss me slowly  
>- <em>

From the time Aria got out of bed on Wednesday morning, her nerves were running like crazy. She was totally unsure of anything that would happen over the next eight or so hours, but she knew that she needed to speak with her mother and attempt to clear the air. She and Ezra had agreed the night before that neither of them would speak to her father until further notice. Part of the reasoning behind it was so that there weren't anymore arguments between Ezra and Byron. The other part of it had to do with the fact that Aria wanted to make sure things went alright with her mother before she tried reaching out to her father.

Even so, the mere idea of speaking to her father made her nervousness escalate almost to an unreasonable level. It had bee over a month since she'd spoken to him, and except for a few chance sightings, she hadn't really _seen_ him, either. She was excited to be taking a chance and trying to see how things might work if she spoke with her mother, but she was also entirely terrified of being hurt once more. Ezra kept reminding her that whatever was meant to be, **would be**, but she still couldn't shake her nerves. In a matter of hours, she would have answers to questions that she had coveted for weeks.

As it was, the morning was not on her side. She spilled coffee all over the front of the dress she planned to wear to school, and ended up changing into a canary yellow tank top and a jean skirt, and then slipped on a pair of ballet flats before racing out the door towards school. She just barely made it into the building and to her locker before the bell rang, and she was several moments late for class. She was grateful when her mother didn't yell at her and only motioned for her to take her seat.

The craziness seemed to end there, but then it was as if the clock were against her. Once class ended, several students stayed behind to ask questions about homework, and Aria still needed to get back to her locker to grab things she'd forgotten because of being late. She couldn't duck out of study hall, as her mother had a second period class as well.

Eventually though, the clock ticked towards eleven thirty, and Aria stared at it with bated breath, waiting for the lunch bell. When it finally rang, she shot up out of her seat and made her way down to the lunch room and purchased herself a slice of pizza before heading back towards the English hallway. She walked down the hall to her mother's classroom and then stood outside the door for a few moments. She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. The weight of all the things riding on this impending conversation was back on her shoulders and pushing down on her chest. She kept taking in deep breaths, and after a few long moments, she managed to muster the courage to open the door.

Ella looked up at her as she stepped around the door and then pulled it shut behind herself. Neither of them had said anything to the other since Monday. An awkward silence began to fill the air, and Aria's nerves began to get the best of her again. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a long, deep breath before opening her eyes again.

"Why didn't you do anything last Monday?"

She wasn't sure why those were the words she started with, but she knew it was also a question that had weighed on her mind for the last ten days, and she desperately needed an answer to it. She had needed her mother in that moment, and her mother hadn't been there.

Ella seemed to watch her for a few moments as if she was unsure Aria actually wanted to know, or if she just wanted to start another fight. She had to take a leap of faith just like Aria did, and hope neither of them drowned.

"I didn't think you wanted me to," she said finally. "I had been on the phone with your father, and like I told you, I heard the fighting. But by the time I got to the door and saw that it was you, I wasn't sure what to do. A large part of me wanted to be a mother and yell at those girls for what they had done to you. I wanted to _hurt_ them like they hurt you, but I knew I couldn't do that. I knew it was better for me to stay out of it. And, when I had seen that you saw me, I wasn't quite sure what to do about that, either. Your father and I hadn't been there for you. It felt a little bit hypocritical to go to you after all of that." "But your mind changed after I was out for two days," Aria asked.

Ella shook her head. "I was worried sick for those two days that you weren't in school, Aria. I wondered how badly you were injured, if you were okay? I wondered if those girls had hurt you bad enough to put you in the hospital. It terrified me to see you all beat up like that. For all the things I ever expected to see you do and see **happen** to you, being beat up wasn't one of them. So when you came back to school on Thursday, I asked if you were alright because I genuinely wanted to know."

"And dad?"

"Your father wanted to know as well," Ella said. "It's my understanding that he tried to ask Ezra how you were doing, but he was stonewalled."

"Dad didn't _deserve_ to know anything," Aria said firmly. "After how he's treated Ezra these last few weeks-"

Ella nodded, gesturing towards one of the desks in front of her for Aria to sit. Aria walked over to one tentatively. She sat down on top of it and crossed one leg over the other. She took a bite of her pizza as Ella spoke.

"I'm well aware of the things that have gone on between your father and Ezra as of late, and I'm less than pleased about it. I certainly didn't agree with his choices made surrounding the girl who was attacked there. It wasn't right for him to assume things of Ezra, under any circumstance. But it doesn't change the fact that your father and I were and are worried about your well-being. All we ever wanted for you was to raise you in a safe environment." Aria settled her pizza on the desk next to her, and used the napkin that came with it to wipe her mouth and hands off. "And yet you kicked me out. One kind of negates the other."

Ella nodded again. 'You're right. And I will admit that our decision to kick you out was a rash one. We could have made better choices. The entire situation could have been handled differently. Better. But those things have already happened, and they can't be taken back. I only hope that somehow we can make them better." "How?"

Ella shook her head as she shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure, Aria. By talking? I suppose there's a part of me that hopes that if we try hard enough, we can figure out where all the cracks in our family developed, and somehow we can fix them so that maybe we can get back to some semblance of what we used to be."

"Okay," Aria said, nodding in agreement. "But what about Ezra? I mean do those changes include him? Or are you and dad hoping that if things are made to look pretty long enough that I'll leave him and it'll just be the four of us again?"

"No," Ella replied. "Your father and I don't expect anything of the sort. But it's going to take us some time to warm up to the idea of you and Ezra being together. I realize how stupid that sounds when I know you've been _living _together for over a month, but it doesn't change the fact that we still need time to process this." Aria nodded, and for a few moments, the room grew silent again. She stared down at a random spot on the floor and listened to her own breathing and the ticking of the clock. She wasn't quite sure what else to say.

"You know," Ella said after a few minutes. "When Ezra showed up at the police station, I was _so sure_ that Spencer was the girl he was seeing. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't entirely formulate a belief around that situation, that put him in the position as the bad guy. I know your father and I never gave you and Ezra the chance to speak and tell the whole story about your relationship, and that was wrong. And unfair. But," she said, "I think we were scared. Or at least I was. I very easily saw Ezra as this young man who had a very convenient vantage point for a predator. And maybe that's just a common reaction when your child comes home and tells you they're dating their teacher, but I honestly didn't know how else to view it."

"If I had known he was going to be my teacher…" Aria spoke softly. Part of her wanted to be able to tell her mother that if she had known Ezra was her teacher when she met him, she never would have flirted with him, or kissed him in the bar the day the had met. But as much as she _wanted _to say those things, she couldn't. "I want to tell you things would've been different, but I can't. Too many times I've asked myself that question, and I wouldn't change what Ezra and I have for anything. He's been there for so much more than I ever should've even thought I could ask for." She laughed, and shook her head. "I don't think I know any other men who would open their home to their girlfriends when their parents kicked them out _because_ of who they're dating. And if he _was_ just like all the other teachers who do things like that with their students, he probably would have sooner skipped town."

Ella nodded. "You're probably right."

Once again it was quiet. Aria chewed quietly on her pizza and stared out a window while she pondered all of the conversations she'd shared in this room, both with her mother and with Ezra. She had never imagined that when the school year started, that this classroom would become such a staple for her.

"So what do we do now," she asked finally.

"We take things slow," Ella told her. "I know that, given the situation we've put you in, that we don't have the right to ask, or even _tell_ you, to move back home. Honestly, I don't feel like that would be right, anyhow. I realize your father and I put you in a very tough position, and there are a lot of conversations that need to be had before we should even start discussing things like you moving back home, should you decide to. Make no mistake, though. We still care about you, and ultimately, we would like things to be okay for our family again." Aria nodded. She finished her slice of pizza and then wiped her hands and face again with her napkin. Slow worked for her. She just hoped that by the time Tuesday afternoon rolled around, that she'd be entirely sure of the decision she needed to make.

**A/N: OH, and um... you're never going to see what's coming next, coming. It'll be the last thing you'd even expect. Good luck guessing though! :) Review!**


	26. If You Wanna Stay, Just Stay

__**A/N: If there's any chapter I've ever wanted you to review more, it's this one. It's my favourite still, and I hope you enjoy it. We are certainly headed into the major twist of this story in this chapter. **

_Chapter 25_

_If You Wanna Stay, Just Stay_

The rest of the week passed with relative ease. Aria spent her lunch hours with her mother in her classroom. After Wednesday, their conversations changed to small talk and things that didn't require their conversations to be so serious and personal. Aria never asked her mother why nobody had done anything when they had seen her slip at work. She avoided asking any questions that attributed to her parents not being there for her.

She spent the weekend studying, cramming in as much information as she could. Monday afternoon was supposed to be spent with her lawyer and Ezra discussing Tuesday's meeting. She knew that when she met with her lawyer, she probably needed to have an answer as to whether or not she was actually going to go through with being emancipated. It was the one answer she still didn't have, and she was hoping like hell that her mother would say _something_ that would tell her what to do.

Aria adjusted her shorts as she sat down in a chair at the table in her and Ezra's apartment. She had on a pair of plain jean shorts and a teal tank top with skulls on it. She had a thin white sweater on as well, but she had it on for the sake of keeping warm from the cool morning air. It was supposed to be almost ninety degrees by noon, though, and she was sure that by then she'd be grateful for her choice in clothing.

She picked up her mug of coffee from the table and took a long drink from it. Ezra sat down in the chair next to hers. He was already working on his second mug of the day.

"Do you want me to meet you over the lawyer's office, or come over by Hollis after school?" He asked.

Aria shrugged, settling her mug back down on the table. "I'll just come over to Hollis."

Ezra nodded, turning his mug on the table. "Do you know what you're going to do?"

Aria gulped. She picked up her mug and took a long drink from it. When she set it back down she looked back up at him. "Honestly, no. I _really_ hope something is going to happen today that's going to tell me whether I'm making the right decision or not."

"Aria-"

She shook her head at him. "Something will happen today. I have to believe that something will tell me whether I'm making the right decision or not. I don't know what, but something will. It has to." Ezra tilted his head at her. "But what if it doesn't? Are you prepared to have to make that choice?"

Aria sighed. "I guess I have to be." She pushed up out of her chair and grabbed her keys off the table, and her bag from the floor. "We should go."

Ezra nodded. He finished off the coffee in his mug and then picked up Aria's and walked into the kitchen. He settled them on the counter and then walked back out to the sitting room and grabbed his messenger bag from the floor. He slipped his arm around Aria's waist and then followed her towards the door as he pulled his car keys from where he had clipped them onto the belt loop of his khaki shorts. Much like Aria, he was dressed in light clothing as well. With his khaki shorts,, he was wearing a thin button-up grey dress shirt, and a thin white t-shirt under that.

They walked out of the apartment and each of them walked to their separate cars. Aria settled her things inside of her passenger seat and then settled in the drivers seat and placed the key in the ignition. She turned it over, and furrowed her brow when the car stuttered but refused to start.

Ezra looked over at her through the passenger window of his own car. Aria looked back at him and shrugged. She turned the key over again, but it still refused to start. She exhaled a frustrated breath and then tried it a third time.

Ezra pushed open the passenger side door of his car. "Just leave it. You can take my car to school and then come over to Hollis with it after school."

Aria sighed and nodded. She grabbed her keys from the ignition and her school bag from the passenger seat and then got out of her car. She got into the passenger seat of Ezra's car and settled her bag between her legs before pulling on her seatbelt. Once she was settled, Ezra put the car into reverse and they pulled away from their parking space.

"I don't understand why it won't start," Aria said as they pulled out of the parking lot. "It was running just fine yesterday."

Ezra shrugged, looking over his shoulder for oncoming traffic as he laced his fingers with Aria's over the center console between their seats.

"Who knows. Take it over to the mechanic on Wednesday after school," he said. "You have an early day that day anyway, right?" Aria nodded. "First day of finals. _So _exciting." Ezra chuckled, squeezing her hand lightly. "And then we'll be off for three months. Plenty of time to figure out the next steps we want to take with everything with your parents."

Aria nodded again, and she turned to stare out the window. Just like things had been for days, her nerves were so high, she felt like she could buzz right out of her skin. She was struggling just to keep her thoughts and emotions at bay. She _needed_ everything to go right in the next eight hours. She needed answers that would tell her what to do.

Before she knew it, they were pulling into Ezra's parking space at Hollis, and he was opening his door to get out. Aria looked up at him, slightly caught off guard. She moved tentatively out of her seat, removing her seatbelt and pushing the passenger door open. She closed it behind herself and then walked around the car.

Ezra grabbed her arm as she moved to walk past him and hugged her tightly. Aria wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, doing her best to stay calm.

"You can get through today," he told her as he brushed her hair away from her forehead and kissed the top of her head. Aria tilted her head up to look at him. "Okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah." She pushed up on the tips of her toes and kissed Ezra on the lips. He kissed her back and brushed her hair behind her ear, running his fingers to the back of her neck. They parted a few moments later and Aria looked down at Ezra's watch.

"Alright, I really have to go," she said with a chuckle. Ezra kissed the top of her head once more and then let her go.

"I love you," he told her.

Aria nodded, resting her hands on the top of the drivers side door. "I love you too." She watched him walk over to the entrance to the English department, and waited until the door had shut behind him until she got into the car. She pulled on the seatbelt and then checked each of her mirrors before pulling out of the parking space.

She stopped by Retta's on her way over to school to pick up a large coffee for herself before she got back in her car and finished the drive to school. Once she managed to find a free parking space, she pulled the car in and turned it off. She grabbed her things from the passenger seat and then got out of the car, making sure she locked it before she headed for the building.

She walked in through the student parking entrance with the same attitude she had since returning to school after getting beaten up. She ignored just about everyone and didn't bother looking up until she made it to her locker.

She stuffed the car keys into her pocket and then opened up her locker and settled her coffee up on the top shelf. She knelt down and pulled her unneeded books from her bag and placed them in her locker before pulling out the books she needed for morning classes.

"Hey! I didn't see your car outside. Figured you weren't going to be here." Aria looked up from her bag to Spencer. She forced a smile. "My car wouldn't start this morning. Ezra let me take his." Spencer raised her eyebrows at Aria. "He let you _borrow_ his car?" Aria rolled her eyes and turned back to her locker. She finished grabbing her things and then stood up and grabbed her coffee off the top shelf. "It's _not_ that big of a deal. And it's not like I haven't been in his car before."

"That man is so whipped," Spencer told her. "He lets you drive his car, you live in the same apartment. **You share the same bathroom!**"

Aria laughed and shook her head. "Sometimes you guys are so juvenile about it all."

"Not all of us are domesticated with our boyfriends," Spencer countered. "I think if I went in Toby's bedroom, he'd probably lose his mind." Aria just continued to laugh. They continued to talk about their boyfriends, and Hanna eventually joined in when she managed to pull herself away from Caleb. Eventually Emily joined them as well, and they talked well past the usual amount time they usually spent talking in the halls. Even so, Aria was grateful for the distraction. Talking with her friends seemed to calm her nerves surrounding her parents and everything else that was supposed to happen.

When they walked into class, Ella didn't pay any mind to them. It was a little off-putting to Aria, but class was set to start in just under two minutes, so she walked over to her desk and sat down. Just as she was finishing pulling her things from her bag, the bell rang. The entire class hour was spent discussing last-minute things to review and Ella answered questions anyone had about the final and what would be on it. Tuesday's class was intended to be used for study time before everyone would be required to turn in their textbooks.

When class departed, Aria wanted to stay and ask Ella if they could talk after school for a few minutes, but Ella thwarted her advances, giving other students her attention. Aria could tell that she was frustrated about something, but she didn't have the time to wait around.

Her classes continued to pass much in the same manner, with the teachers either granting study time or taking the hour to answer questions about finals. By lunch time, she had more information to cram into her head in the next forty hours than she was sure she could manage, but she didn't have time to think about it anyway. She stopped by the commons long enough to pick up something to eat for lunch, and then brought it down to the art hallway with her. She had to finish painting the border of her project so that she could put the finishing touches on it and add the photos of herself in the next two days.

After lunch was over, she ran to her last three classes, where she took even more notes on all the things that needed to be reread, restudied, and just plain reiterated before Wednesday came. By the end of the day, her stress level was teetering on unmanageable, but she knew that if it required no sleep for the next four days, she'd manage.

Aria walked to her locker and grabbed each of her textbooks that she needed before walking to her mother's classroom. Mike was in the room talking with her, but they both looked up when she knocked on the door. She opened the door with her free hand and pushed it open, holding another textbook in her other arm.

"Hey." She murmured. "Can we talk?"

"I'm gonna go meet up with the guys for a game in the park," Mike said. "See you later, Aria." She waved to him as he walked out the door, leaving she and Ella in the classroom alone. Ella started packing up things into a box.

"Did I do something wrong," Aria asked. "It seems like you're mad at me." "I didn't say that," Ella said as she continued moving things around.

Aria sighed and dropped the book she was holding so that it was resting in both her hands instead of against her arm. "Then what's going on?" Ella looked up at her. "Did you feel that it was at all important to tell me or your father about your plans to emancipate yourself?" Aria gulped. "I-" "We got a letter in the mail on Friday about appearing in court tomorrow for questions. I mean did it even occur to you that this might be something significant to mention? At all? Especially last week?"

"If you'd-" Ella cut her off again. "I thought the five of us were starting to work towards something better, Aria. I thought that by talking, that we were making things better. I suppose I should've thought better than that, shouldn't I have?" Aria huffed. "If you'd let me speak!" She waited a few moments to make sure Ella wasn't going to cut her off again before she spoke. "I applied for emancipation status when you and dad first kicked me out and wouldn't speak to me. I didn't know if you were ever going to speak to me again! I had to do something to make sure I wasn't left completely destitute."

Ella nodded. "Well it seems like you've got everything pretty figured out." Aria bit the inside of her bottom lip, desperately trying not to cry. This was the last thing she had expected. "So we're just done." "Just go," Ella said. It was that same dismissive tone she'd used when Aria had tried to get her parents to understand her relationship with Ezra just a few weeks earlier.

Aria shook her head and walked out of the room. She was ready to fall apart, but she refused to do it in school. She walked swiftly through the building to the parking lot and ignored the calls of her name from her friends as she did so. When she was outside, she paid little attention to her surroundings, and it earned her a few honks from angered drivers as she made her way over to Ezra's car.

Once she reached it, she placed her things in the passenger seat and then got in the drivers seat and started the car. She pulled out of the parking space and then waited several minutes behind the row of cars headed out of the parking lot. Once she made it to the front of the line, she left the parking lot and made her way towards Hollis. Her phone buzzed in her pocket with messages from her friends, but she ignored them as she continued to drive. Several tears fell, but she forced herself to pull it together. She didn't want anyone knowing she was upset.

She fiddled with the radio as she sat at a radio, flipping through the stations. She couldn't help the laugh at the irony that the radio spewed out at her.

"_lets talk this over, it's not like we're dea  
><em>_Was it something I did? Was it something ou said?  
><em>_Don't leave me hanging  
><em>_In a city so dead_

_Held up so high on such a breakable thread  
><em>_You were all the things I thought I knew  
><em>_And I thought we could be_

_You were everything, everything that I wanted  
><em>_We were meant to be, supposed to be  
><em>_But we lost it  
><em>_How did a memory so close to me just fade away  
><em>_All this time you were pretending  
><em>_So much for my happy ending…"_

She pulled into Ezra's parking space at Hollis a few minutes later, and she took a moment to pull herself together. After checking herself in the mirror to make sure her mascara hadn't run, and taking a few calming breaths, she finally got out of the car and grabbed her back from the back seat before she walked into the building.

She passed by students talking about their various homework assignments. She made the required turns down halls and a few minutes she was standing outside of Ezra's office. She was about to walk in, when she stopped at the sound of him yelling. A desperate hope rushed through her that it wasn't her father that he was fighting with.

"_Why can't you get it through your head that you and I are __**not**__ friends! And we're __**not**__ getting back together!" _

"_I really hope you wake up one day and realize just how screwed up the situation you're in is. That girl is not right for you, Ezra." _

Aria rolled her eyes. Jackie never did stop, did she?

"_Well now, it's not your place to judge, is it? So get out." _

She chose that moment to open the door. When she did, Jackie looked less than happy to see her. If she wasn't so frustrated with her parents, Aria probably would have enjoyed the moment more.

"I hope you wake up one day and realize how stupid you're being," Jackie said firmly before she turned to walk out of the room. She slammed her shoulder against Aria's as she did, but Aria just shrugged it off.

Ezra exhaled a frustrated and angered breath, and then looked at Aria. "How was _your_ day?" He picked up his coffee mug off the table and took a drink from it.

Aria shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't even ask. Are you ready to go?" "In just a bit," he told her. "I need to get a few things squared away."

Aria nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest and walked over to the couch. She sat down on it and pulled her phone from her pocket. She scrolled through her text messages, all of which were from her friends wondering where she was, just as she'd suspected. She returned messages to each of them, assuring them that she was okay and that she'd call each of them later.

"How was class with my father," Aria asked as she started playing a game on her phone.

Ezra laughed sardonically. "How was class with _your mother_?"

Aria looked up at him. "That bad?"

Ezra shook his head. "That bad doesn't even begin to cover how pissed he was. I thought he hated me before."

"Maybe you two should have more thoroughly considered your actions then." Aria and Ezra both looked up towards the doorway. Byron was standing there. Aria gulped. She hadn't seen her father up this close in weeks. Suddenly there were so many things she wanted to say, but her mouth felt dry.

"I'm really disappointed in you," Byron said angrily to Aria. "To put a false sense of security in front of your mother and I. That was cruel, Aria." She let out a shaky breath and shook her head. "I told mom at school, I filed for emancipation before any of this happened! Neither of you were talking to me and,, and you refused to listen to me and Ezra-" "I don't want to hear it," Byron said dismissively. "It's clear now that we all should have stayed on the path we were on a few weeks ago and just left well enough alone." Aria's jaw dropped. Was her father actually insinuating that her parents wanted nothing to do with her and that they should all go their own separate ways? He didn't leave her any time to ask as he turned and walked out of the room. She dropped her phone on the seat next to hers and brought her hands up to her face. She rubbed her thumbs in circles against her temples.

"I can't handle all of this," she murmured.

Ezra walked over to her and sat down, placing a hand in the middle of her back. "It's alright. Just take a few breaths." Aria looked up at him and shook her head. "I don't understand. What is it that I do that's so bad? Why am I such a terrible person?" Ezra shook his head at her. "You can't think about all of this like that. It's not fair, but you haven't done anything wrong. Your parents are the ones who are wrong."

She swallowed hard and looked down at the floor, frustrated. Ezra kissed her forehead. "I'll get my things and then we can go." Aria nodded. She pushed up from the couch and grabbed her bag and phone and then walked over to the door. A moment later, Ezra joined her and they walked out of the room together. She passed his keys to him as they walked out of the building.

"Are you alright?" Ezra asked her as they walked towards his car. Aria nodded, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. She wasn't, and they both knew it, but she refused to outright admit it. "Are you sure?" "I'm fine," she insisted.

They reached his car a few moments later, and each got into the car. Ezra got into the driver's seat while Aria took the passenger seat. She settled her bag behind her while Ezra started the car and pulled out of the parking space. She turned around and reached for the seatbelt as he drove out of the parking lot.

Aria yanked on the shoulder belt. It wouldn't budge, like it had locked up. She looked down between the door and the seat. It wasn't caught. Perplexed, she pulled on it again. It still wouldn't budge. She huffed. "I think it's stuck." Ezra looked over at her momentarily and then looked back at the road as he reached across her seat, pressing her up against it. He grabbed the belt and began to pull. After a few tugs, he took his view off the road and unbuckled himself. He furrowed is brow as he reached back out and pulled harder on the seatbelt.

"What the hell?"

Aria was watching the road. "Red light," she said nonchalantly.

"Alright," Ezra replied. He tapped the break peddle as he continued to tug on the seatbelt.

Still watching the road, Aria spoke again. "Red light," she repeated, this time louder and more firmly.

"I know, I heard-…" Ezra's voice trailed off as he looked back to the road and saw that they hadn't slowed down at all. He looked back at Aria.

"Ezra?" Her voice shook. "What's going on? What're you doing?"

"I'm not _doing_ anything," he insisted. He took a deep breath. "I'm going to have to run it. We'll pull over and I'll call the insurance company."

Aria shook her head as they approached the intersection, terrified. Ezra pinned her back against her seat. She clenched her eyes shut.

Metal crunched in on itself, giving off a sickening sound, and the car began to roll. Aria screamed as her window shattered in on them, shooting across the car. The tiny sedan rolled back onto its wheels a moment later, still in motion. It spun in almost a complete circle and then slammed into something. Hard. Ezra flew into the steering wheel and Aria slammed her chin into the dash before they were both thrown back into their seats.

Aria sobbed in gasps as she opened her eyes and the last few moments washed over her. The first thing she saw was shattered glass. Second, she saw blood. On her arms and hands, and on her legs. It was running down her face as well. She looked over at Ezra. He was out cold, and bleeding as well.

She lifted her arm up to his shoulder and began to shake him. "Ezra? Ezra, wake up!"

"Aria?"

She looked up in the direction of her name being called then looked back to Ezra a moment later, continuing to shake him.

"Please, Ezra, wake up!"

"Aria!"

The voice calling her name was familiar, but her brain felt fuzzy. She looked out her broken window to see Ella running towards the car. She stopped short of Aria's door a few seconds later.

"Aria, are you okay?"

"I-I don't know. I think so," she stammered Tears ran down her face as she continued to gasp for air. The last few minutes were still processing through her mind, and she was utterly terrified. 'Ezra- he- mom!"

Ella extended her arm over the broken glass into the car and cupped Aria's face. "You have to breath, Aria. It's okay."

Aria shook her head frenetically. "He won't wake up." Ezra groaned next to her and coughed, trying to surface from the unconsciousness. Aria whipped her head back around to look at him. "Ezra?"

"Why did you run the light," Ella asked, making Aria look back at her again. "Aria, why run the light?"

Aria shook her head. She felt woozy. "Th-The breaks. It wouldn't slow down."

"Okay," Ella said, nodding. "And your seatbelt?"

Aria shook her head again. "I don't know. It's stuck. I couldn't get it. Ezra tried…" Ella reached her hand up to the belt and gave it a few good tugs. It remained unrelenting.

Sirens filled the air as cop cars and ambulances approached. Aria looked back to Ezra as he groaned again.

"Ezra?" He opened his eyes a moment later and slowly began to lift his head. He was incredibly disoriented and confused. "Aria?"

She nodded, reaching out and grabbed his hand. He winced.

"Are you okay?" he rasped.

"I'm fine," she told him insistently. She was more concerned about him as it was.

"You are not **fine**," Ella said emphatically. She looked over at Ezra. "Ezra, can you move?"

He grimaced as he lifted his head upright. He was bleeding all over the place just as bad as Aria.

"A bit," he slurred. "Copper?"

"What?" Aria and Ella said simultaneously.

Blood dripped out of his mouth. Aria whimpered and reached out towards him. "You're bleeding from your mouth."

Ezra coughed, spraying bright red - almost pink - blood onto the steering wheel. He forced himself to turn in his seat to face Aria as best he could.

"Are you okay? Honestly?"

Aria reapeated herself. "I'm **fine**. Just bleeding." She insisted. "You're not."

"Need…I'm going to be sick," he slurred again.

It was an innate function for him, and Aria knew it. It was one thing for him to see or taste blood when it was just a little bit, but when it was in abundance, the sight of it made him vomit.

Ella was pulled away from Aria's door as EMTs and police officers began to surround the car. Some of them were talking to each other about what little they knew about the accident, while others were talking about how to get Aria and Ezra out of the car. Every one of the doors was crunched in, which made them wary to try and open the doors, even though the car hadn't actually caved in on Aria and Ezra. All the windows were broken as well. There was very little glass left in any of the car door windows, and both the windshield and the rearview window were shattered.

The next few minutes were a blur as an EMT asked Aria questions about what had happened while the others tried to figure out if they could open the doors to get Aria and Ezra out, or if they would have to cut the hood from the car to remove the both of them. Eventually it was deemed safe that they could open the doors, and several EMTs and firefighters worked together to get Aria and Ezra situated with hard collars wrapped around their necks. Her attention was entirely on him as they worked to get him out of the car. He kept repeating that someone had cut the breaks, but Aria could tell that he was growing more disoriented and struggling to stay conscious with each passing second.

A few minutes later, she was laid onto a stretcher, and then suddenly three different people were pulling all kinds of different straps down over her body to keep her in place. Ella was at her side, and she squeezed Aria's hand lightly as the stretcher was pushed towards one of the ambulances. Aria looked up at her mom insistently.

"M-my phone. You have to call Adriana and Serena." Ella shook her head. "What? Who are Adriana and Serena, sweetie?" "Ezra's sister and mom," Aria said. She pulled on her arm, but it was strapped down against the stretcher. "My phone! It's in my pocket."

Ella gently reached into Aria's pocket and pulled the phone out.

"Dad," Aria said a few seconds later. "Adriana is in his class. He'll know where she is."

Ella nodded. She squeezed Aria's hand gently. "I'll make sure everyone who needs to be, gets called. Don't worry. Just rest."

The mere idea of trying to rest at that moment seemed ridiculous to Aria, but her body was physically exhausted, even if she didn't want to be. She closed her eyes against the glaring light of the sun and took several deep breaths. She could feel the stickiness of blood all over her body, and she knew her clothes were destroyed. She also knew that there were pieces of glass sticking out of several of her limbs, but as her adrenaline started to drop towards a more normal level, the pain from the accident started to set in. Her head and chest began to throb with pain from being thrown around the car. The dozens of places where she'd been sliced and impaled by glass began to sting more. She winced as they moved the stretcher up into the ambulance.

"It'll be alright, sweetie." The EMT settled in the back of the ambulance spoke softly to her as she made sure the stretcher was secured against the side of the ambulance. Everything around her began to feel distant, and she was too tired to fight it. Aria closed her eyes again, and let the darkness fading in around her consume her.


	27. Wish You Were Here, Wish You Well

_Chapter 26_

_Wish You Were Here, Wish You Well_

The silence that held over the waiting room in the hospital was not one that Ella found comforting. She'd made all the phone calls that she needed to make, including calling Hanna, Emily, and Spencer. It had surprised her to find that they were already frantic with worry, though she had no idea why. Afterwards, she had called Adriana and alerted her of what had happened. She had intended to call Byron after, but she was relieved of that duty when it turned out Adriana was asking for help on her homework in his office. She almost thought to mention Adriana calling her mother to tell her about Ezra, but it seemed the girl was almost inconsolable when she'd hung up, so Byron had promised to get her over to the hospital and meet Ella there.

Finally, she had placed a call to Serena. It was awkward and nerve-wracking all on it's own to speak to her daughter's boyfriend's mother. The fact that all of the things that had happened in the last few weeks had actually **happened** only made the conversation that much more awkward. Ella was quick on the phone and didn't sugarcoat anything. She simply told the other woman that she would want to get to Rosewood as soon as possible.

And so she found herself sitting in one of the hard plastic chairs, waiting. She knew nothing of her daughter's status, nor of Ezra's. The waiting room was relatively empty and there was no one to speak to. Every now and then she checked her phone or Aria's phone, but the only thing that shone on either screen was the time.

Eventually, the halls became noisy, and she heard the sound of familiar voices. One by one people began to trickle in, starting with Byron, Mike, and Adriana. Shortly thereafter, the three girls walked in. They all asked the same questions, and Ella's answers were the same. No, she didn't know how Aria or Ezra was. Yes, as far as she knew, they were still alive.

When Ella had given no information, Adriana had hunted down a nurse for information on Ezra, but she was given nothing, other than being told to wait for a doctor to come and speak with her. So they all sat in the waiting room and waited. And waited. And waited impatiently.

When the silence was broken, they were all surprised by who walked through the doorway. Plenty of distasteful glances were shot towards the doorway as Jackie Molina walked into the waiting room, asking where Ezra was. She seemed frantic, which threw everyone off. Questions began to fly as to how she knew Ezra was there, and why she wanted to know.

For Ella though, pieces began to fall into place. Ezra kept repeating how the brakes had been cut. Nothing was on the news yet. There was no other way that she could know what had happened, unless she had caused it. Security was called, and the last any of them saw of her was a guard pulling her down the hall in handcuffs.

No one knew how long they sat there, but when someone else finally entered the room, it wasn't a doctor, but instead Serena and Hardy, who had both arrived at the same time. Everyone occasionally muttered something to someone else, but for the most part, they all sat in silence.

Long after the sun had gone down, a two doctors finally came out. "Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery?" Ella and Byron both pushed up out of theirs seats. "Is Aria alright?"

One of the doctors stepped forward. "I'm Aaron Hale. At the moment, Aria's lightly sedated. She doesn't seem to have sustained any life threatening injuries, but she appears to have a very severe concussion. We'd like to monitor her for a few days to make sure there are no bleeds in the brain and no intracranial pressure, but I see no reason why she can't go home in a few days." "May we see her?" Ella asked.

"Of course," Dr. Hale replied. "We're getting her settled into a room, but once she's situated, we'll let you know. It shouldn't be more than ten or fifteen minutes."

The doctor standing next to Dr. Hale finally looked up from the chart in her hands. "Adriana Fitz?"

Adriana looked to Hardy. He squeezed her hand tightly and then let it go as she stood up along with Serena. Adriana crossed her arms tightly across her body and walked over to the doctor with her mother. "You're listed as your brother's emergency contact?" Adriana nodded. "This is our mom."

The woman nodded and extended her hand to Serena and then Adriana. "I'm Grace Logan." "Where is my son?" Serena said curtly. She was not typically a rude woman, but when it came to her children, nothing was more important. "Is he alright?"

"At the moment, he's being situated up in the ICU. Now, I don't want that to be a cause for alarm, however it does appear that your son took the brunt of the impact in the accident. He's going to need surgery on his wrist, which we'd like to do tonight. He's also got a myriad of other injuries. Several of his ribs were broken, and one of them punctured one of his lungs. He'll be alright, but there will be a tube in his chest for a few days, and he'll have a lengthy recovery period. He also sustained a rather severe concussion and some intracranial pressure. We'll be watching that closely over the next few days to make sure it doesn't raise. He's not conscious at the moment, but you're welcome to sit with him once he's placed."

_-  
>We're on an open bed truck on the highway<br>__Rain is coming down and we're on the run  
>- <em>

Very little happened over the next twenty four hours. Nobody went to work. Adriana refused to go to classes, and Byron, Ella, and Hardy all called in for personal days. Mike, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily all returned to school, but the lack of focus was collective. Nobody was quite sure how to function. It became clear with their absence, just how much of a staple Aria and Ezra were for their friends and family. Either family didn't say much to each other, except to update one another on how their children were doing so that they could tell each other, if and when they woke up.

Ella stood in front of a coffee maker in one of the visitors lounges on the third floor of the hospital. She had yet to go home, but she'd sent Byron home to pick up Mike and to gather some clothing for her. They had all stayed the night the night before after Byron had gone home and gotten clothing for all of them, but Aria was very weary and the few times she woke up, it was only for a few minutes. Byron had questioned that she knew that it wasn't him who had caused the car accident. They were all pretty sure that it was in fact Jackie who had caused it, but Byron and Ella were determined for Aria to know that it hadn't been them.

"Is the coffee any good?" Ella came out of her thoughts as she looked up from the dark liquid in her own Styrofoam cup. "It's- It's alright. For hospital coffee."

Serena chuckled softly and Ella stepped aside so that the older woman could pour herself a cup. She added creamer and sugar and then took a sip. The coffee was rather weak for her own taste. She moved the stirring stick around in the cup and then looked up at Ella as Ella settled on one of the small couches in the room.

"Your daughter means a great deal to my son. I thought I knew that when I met her, but he keeps saying her name, and he's not even conscious." Serena said.

Ella looked up at Serena. "I wasn't aware that you'd met her." Serena nodded, holding her cup of coffee between both her hands. "I did, about a week and a half ago. Lovely girl. She certainly puts a light in my son's eyes that I don't think I've seen since the day his father walked out on us, and that was almost fifteen years ago."

Serena paused. She took another drink from the cup of coffee she was holding. "I am not here to judge, because I would be lying to you if I said I wouldn't be angry if my daughter had come home when she was sixteen and told me she was dating her teacher. However, I believe that after all my son has been through, that there's not anything more that he deserves more than happiness. And why it is that it's your daughter who makes him feel the kind of happiness that most people only dream of is beyond me, but who are we to tell them that it's wrong? I'm sure you made some poor decisions in your day, and I know I have." Ella was quiet as she let Serena speak, and surprising even herself, she listened.

Serena shook her head and looked Ella in the eyes. "I would never say that it's right, because I know it's not. But what I know is that when I look in my son's eyes, there's a light there, that wasn't there before he knew your daughter. And I know that for all the ways people might see that it's wrong, because of all the pre- and misconceptions, that relationship is not built around those things. It's clear that those to very wholly and honestly love each other. After all, if they didn't, would they still be fighting for their relationship now?"

Ella nodded as she stood up. "You _do_ understand that your son and my daughter kept this information from my husband and I for months, while Ezra worked with the both of us?" Serena nodded again. "I do. But given the parameters of their relationship, I can't really say that I blame them." She let out a sigh and shook away her thoughts, looking down at the ground for a moment before she looked back up at Ella. "You don't have to agree with me, but it seems like if you want to lose your daughter, then you're on a pretty good path to it. And if you want to keep her in your life, maybe you might change the way you look at things." "And who are you to judge?" Ella asked.

Serena shook her head again. "I'm not," she said. "However, we're women in a very similar position. My children are two and a half years apart, and I only have one boy and one girl. But if there's one thing I know more than anything else, it's that there's nothing that could make me push either one of them away. Adriana and Ezra are the two greatest gifts this life has ever given me, and I can't imagine a world without them."

She turned and walked to the doorway, but then paused as she reached it. She turned around and looked at Ella. "When Aria wakes up, tell her Ezra's been in and out of it, but he's come around a little bit. I'm sure he'd love to see her, even if it's only for a few seconds." With that, she turned and walked out of the room, leaving Ella to sit there along and ponder the things she had said.

Eventually, Ella stood and left the lounge. She walked back to Aria's room and watched her sleep for a while, as she continued to think about the things that Serena had said to her. She knew, and had known for some time, that everyone involved had made mistakes when Ezra had told them about his and Aria's relationship. Things could've been handled better in a lot of ways. Very specifically, there had been no need for the physical fighting. Byron and Mike going after Ezra had been wrong, and it had never been something Ella had agreed with.

But there was still a part of her, and she wasn't quite sure how big that part was, that felt that Aria and Ezra's relationship was wrong, and that it was even more wrong that Aria and Ezra had not come to she or Byron sooner about everything. In every sense, the situation could've been handled so much better. But egos had gotten in the way, things were said and done, and eventually, it got too far away from any of them to fix it.

After a while, Ella shifted her focus to work, since Aria still wasn't conscious. She worked on grading homework that she would have to return to the high school to be returned to her students before the end of the year.

_-  
>Your knuckles are bruised from a losing fight<br>__One way down a dead-end street  
>- <em>

"Mom?" Aria's voice was rough and her throat was sore as she opened her eyes, and she had one hell of a headache.

Ella looked up from the homework she was grading. She pushed up from the table she was seated at and walked over to the bed. She perched on the edge of it and gently wrapped her hand around one of Aria's bandaged hands. Almost every part of her body was wrapped or covered in gauze from all the cuts she'd gotten from all the glass.

"Aria, it's so good to see you awake. Do you know where you are?" Aria shifted her head on the pillow. "Mm- Yeah. Hospital. Car accident."

Ella nodded. "Yesterday. Are you feeling alright?"

"My head hurts," she murmured softly.

Ella reached over the bed and grabbed the large remote resting on the side of the bed next to Aria. She pressed the call button. A moment later a voice came through the small speaker box.

"_Yes?" _

"My daughter is conscious. She's complaining of a headache." _"I'll send Dr. Logan in." _

Aria lifted her free hand up to her eyes to rub them, and she winced as she touched her face. "Ow."

"You've got a pretty bad concussion," Ella told her.

"Clearly," Aria murmured.

It was quiet for a bit, and then Dr. Logan came in and assessed Aria quickly before administering a non-sedative pain reliever. Aria settled back on the bed again and closed her eyes while she waited for the pain reliever to kick in. While she did, Ella returned to the table and worked on the homework she'd previously been grading.

After a while, Aria perked up a bit more, and shortly after that a nurse brought in a tray of food for her. She moved the covers off and then grabbed her fork and began pushing food around on her plate, though she occasionally took a bite.

"Can I ask you something?" Aria asked as she pushed potatoes around on her plate.

Ella nodded, settling down a paper she'd been working on grading. "Sure." Aria took a deep breath and then settled her fork on her plate and turned in her bed towards her mother. "I know it's kind of a stupid question to ask, but why are you here? Yesterday-" "Yesterday I made a very rash decision, that could've cost me you. I'm not saying things are now suddenly fixed, but… I guess what I'm saying is that we need to return to what we were doing before. We need to take things slow and see how they go, and not rush into anything." Ella said.

Aria nodded. After a moment, her eyes grew wide. "Today, it's the twenty-fifth?" Ella nodded, but before Aria flew into a panic, she calmed her. "Not to worry. Adriana went over to your apartment last night and found the information for your lawyer. I called him this morning and told him about the situation. I told him you'd get in touch with him if, after you were released, you still wanted to follow through with your plans."

Aria nodded again. Ella pushed up from her chair. "I'm going to go call your father and let him know you're awake.' When she left the room, Aria pushed away her tray of food. She winced as she moved off her hospital bed. Her head throbbed from the concussion the car accident had caused, but if she didn't move too quickly, she was able to keep her balance and not get too dizzy.

She walked over to the table where her mother had been sitting and opened the small duffel bag that her father had brought the night before. There were clean clothes in it for her; mostly pajamas and sweatpants. She pulled out a sweater and a pair of black fleece hello kitty pajama pants.

Her door opened a moment later. She whipped her head up and then winced, grabbing the table has her head began to spin. "Ezra?" Aria closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for the dizziness to pass.

"No sweetie, it's mom."

Aria opened her eyes when Ella's hand came down to rest on the base of her neck. "Where's Ezra?" "He's resting," Ella responded softly. "You need to be resting too." "No," Aria shook her head. "I want to see him." She looked up at Ella. "You haven't bee around or in my life in weeks. Ezra was there for everything. Where were you when all those girls came after me in the hall, mom?"

Ella's expression softened. "Aria, we've talked about that. And there's a lot of things we **still** need to talk about. But if you're insistent, I'll get a nurse." She paused, turning like she might leave, before she turned back to Aria. "I just wanted you to know, he came out of this worse than you did." "What do you mean, worse?" Aria's voice wavered as thoughts rushed through her head of what that could possibly mean.

Ella turned around. "What do you remember about yesterday?" Aria closed her eyes. A pained expression crossed her face as her head continued to throb. "Um…" She said a moment later, "the car rolled. We hit a tree. Brakes were cut…We weren't buckled in."

Ella nodded. "Right. The cops said there was superglue in the hatch for the passenger seatbelt. It's probably why you couldn't get yours on. But what about Ezra's?" Aria sat down in one of the chairs next to her. She reached behind her and pulled on the strings keeping her gown on as Ella pushed the door shut.

"He took it off so he could reach mine," she murmured. "I guess he just thought it was stuck."

Ella walked over to aria and helped her to pull on the pajama pants she had pulled out once they had discarded the gown Aria pulled on a loose matching tank top with her mother's help as well. Ezra's Hollis sweatshirt was the last thing she pulled on, though she only wrapped it around herself so nothing pulled on the bandages covering the assortment of stitches she had up and down her arms.

Ella sat down in the chair across from Aria. "When the car rolled, Ezra moved with the force of the car. The doctors said you did too, but your injuries weren't as bad as his." Aria brought a hand to her forehead and squeezed gently, wishing the pain would go away. "Yeah, he pinned me back against my seat. I-I remember all of that, and you coming to the window. Everything after that starts to get fuzzy."

"After the car stopped moving, Ezra was unconscious," Ella said.

Aria's eyes grew wide with fear. Ella reached a hand out and gripped Aria's gently.

"He's alive, Aria. He's been in and out of consciousness since last night, but he's got a very bad concussion that the doctors are watching very closely, and he was thrown around quite a bit in the car. His ribs were still healing, and they took a beating. One of his lungs got punctured, and-" "And there was blood coming out of his mouth," Aria said softly. She furrowed her brow, recalling the memory and how upset she had been

Ella nodded. "The doctors had to place a chest tube. It'll likely be there for a few days, according to his mother."

Aria looked up at Ella. "Serena is here?" Ella nodded. "And…Adriana? Ezra's sister? She's wanted to see you since yesterday." Aria pushed up out of her chair and her eyes gre wide again as she wavered, suddenly dizzy. "Whoa."

"Slowly, Aria." Ella coached her. She stood as well. "I'll get a wheelchair." "No," Aria disagreed. "I'm fine as long as I don't move too quickly. Where's Ezra?" "One floor up. ICU." Aria stood there for a moment, taking in the information. Her head was spinning in the worst ways. "Okay, maybe I **do** need a wheelchair." Ella nodded. She walked over to the door and Aria followed slowly behind her, though she stopped once they reached the door. She leaned against the doorframe as her mother went in search of a doctor and a wheelchair.

They returned a few moments later. Aria vaguely remembered the woman standing in front of her from the evening before.

"Are you feeling alright, Aria?" The woman asked.

Aria nodded slowly. "I'm fine." She smiled sympathetically at Aria. "Why don't you take a seat in the wheelchair. I just wanted to check a couple of things before you go upstairs." Ara sat down gingerly into the chair and Dr. Logan knelt down in front of her. She held up three fingers.

"How many fingers am I holding up." "Three," Aria said, bored.

Dr. Logan nodded. She pulled a pen light from her pocket and turned it on. "I'm sorry for the glare."

She moved the light back and forth with both of Aria's eyes and then turned it off and tucked it back into her pocket.

"Any nausea, vomiting, spiked fevers, and you come get me, okay?"

Aria nodded gingerly again.

A moment alter, Ella was pushing her through the halls of the hospital. They moved through a ridiculous maze of machines and stray beds before finally reaching the elevators. Ella pressed the 'up' button. The wait for it was silent, and when it finally arrived, Aria was ready to jump out of the chair and use the stairs instead. Even so, Ella pushed the wheelchair into the elevator and pressed the button for the next floor.

Aria rested her head against her eyes and closed her eyes. She was surprised to hear the chime of the elevator again so soon after it had taken so long to arrive on her floor.

Ella pushed them off the elevator, and she walked down to the nurses station. They had barely come into the waiting area when Aria heard her name come from a familiar voice. She winced slightly at the loudness of it, but smiled all the same as a frame tiny enough to rival her own launched a gentle hug on her.

"So **so **glad you're okay," Adriana said cheerfully.

Aria took a deep breath, hugging the older girl back. "Have you seen Ezra?"

Adriana pulled away a few moments later. "Not yet today. Mom and Hardy have been in with him a lot. I'll go get mom, though. She'll want to see you."

Adriana stood and Ella came around the side of the chair.

"If you start to feel tired, or feel like being up here is too much, we can go back downstairs, okay?" She ran a hand through Aria's hair, brushing several strands behind her ear.

Aria looked down at her mother. "Why are you doing this? I tried for weeks to get you to talk to me and you were like the Berlin wall? And yesterday-" Ella shook her head. Her eyes became glassy with tears. "Aria, I didn't know how to accept what was happening with you and Ezra. Neither did your father. We didn't' know how to really face the idea that such a dangerous relationship was born out of something real. It was easier to blame it on him pressuring you, and thinking you were brainwashed. We were so sure that eventually you'd see it in time. Your father and I were the ones who needed to see reality, though." "So?" "So" Ella replied, "we were wrong. And seeing you hurt that bad, not just physically, but emotionally too from how badly he was hurt…Aria, it scared the hell out of me. I'm very aware that with a split second decision, you could've been the one in the driver's seat. You could've been the one lying in the ICU."

"Thank the lord you both aren't!"

Before Aria could even look up, another pair of arms were wrapping around her. She smiled politely.

"Hi, Mrs. Fitz." "Oh, dear, I've told you before. Call me Serena." She stood back up straight and knelt down so that she was at eye-level with Aria. "How are you, sweetheart." Aria shook her head. "I'm fine. I just want to see him." "He's not really coherent right now, honey. And Ezra would want you to rest." Aria pouted, but sshe could feel actual tears filling her eyes. "Please. Just ten minutes, I swear. I need to see him. I need to know he's okay. After yesterday…" She watched as her mother exchanged a look with Serena. After a minute, Serena nodded and stood up straight along with Ella.

"Alright. Just a few minutes, though. You both need to rest." Aria settled back in her chair and watched different people pass her by as they walked towards Ezra's room. For the ICU, it was strangely quiet.

A door opened in front of her a few moments later and Ella pushed Aria's wheelchair into the room. They passed through the doorway and crossed the roomm.

Hardy was flipping through a grading book next to Ezra. He looked up at them and then quickly pushed out of his chair.

"It's good to see you awake, Aria." Aria smiled up at him.. "Hi, Hardy." He patted her shoulder and then stepped aside so Ella could settle Aria's wheelchair next to the bed. Aria quickly turned her attention to Ezra.

His head was turned towards her, and his eyes were closed. The force of the concussion had left most of his face seriously black and blue. His right hand was also wrapped heavily in what would eventually be replaced by a cast.

He wore no shirt, which caused all of his bruises and stitching sites to be viewed, as well as the small incision where they had placed a small tube inside of his chest. Aria reached a hand up to Ezra's face and brushed her thumb gently against his cheek. The sound of forced inhaled and exhaled breaths made he shudder. She could see where the tube came out of his mouth, and it scared her.

"Why is there a tube in his mouth?" She asked.

"It's okay, sweetie," Serena said. "With his lung being injured, the doctors were worried about his oxygen levels getting too low. They're going to pull the tube when he's able to breathe better on his own."

Aria whimpered and her shoulders shook a she reached her free hand up to curl her fingers inside his broken hand. "Ezra…I'm so sorry."

"Why don't we give you a moment," Serena suggested. She led Adriana and hardy out of the room. Ella followed behind them, but she stood just outside the door instead of following after them.

"I love you," Aria cried softly. "Please, open your eyes for me, so I know you can hear me. I'm so sorry."

Aria sat there for a long minute, and nothing happened. She continued to whimper softly, but with little tear production from her exhausted body.

Suddenly, his fingers twitched inside her palm. Her eyes darted from their hands, up to his face.

"Ezra?" A groan was attempted, but it only came out as a gurgled breath. A few seconds later, his eyes fluttered.

"Ezra? It's me. It's Aria." His eyes fluttered again, and he breathed another heavy breath. And then his fingers twitched once more before lightly grasping her fingers in his hand as best he could. Aria lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed his fingers.

His eyes opened slowly then, and they looked each other in the eyes. It was a brief moment, and Ezra tried to move the fingers of his injured hand against her cheek, before exhaustion overtook him and pulled him back into the mediation induced slumber. Aria leaned down and kissed his fingertips.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I'll be here."

And she was. She continued to sit there, even though she was exhausted. When her ten minutes were up, she insisted she was alright to stay, even though her body was physically exhausted. Eventually Adriana joined her in the room while Hardy took Serena back to Aria and Ezra's apartment so that she could get some rest.

Ella left the two of them to sit with Ezra for a while as well, and even though the room was almost dead silent, save for the sound of machines and the sound of everyone's breathing, Aria didn't mind it. She didn't mind being left in the room with Ezra and Adriana. Even knowing how badly he was hurt, there was still a comfort in being able to watch him sleep, and knowing he was still alive. Knowing that they **both **were still alive.

After a while, she rested her head against one palm while her other hand still rested on the bed with her fingers curled up in Ezra's. Her body was physically drained and couldn't manage much longer, but she didn't want to leave the room. Her eyes were beginning to droop in a losing fight against her exhaustion when she heard something that made her eyes shoot wide open.

"_Aria." _

It was slurred, barely coherent, and just one word, but she knew her name on his lips from anywhere. His eyes didn't open, and he didn't move. It was just one word. But to her, it held so much significance, because, for all of the things he could have been murmuring or thinking about while being unconscious, it was her. Even unconscious, she was still the most important thing to him. And that was more important than anything else.

**A/N: Your reviews fuel the posting of the next update, either tomorrow or Saturday! :)**


	28. Every Time You Go I Feel It In My Soul

__**A/N: just three chapters left to go... *sniff sniff* Not to worry, though. I started Say Anything this morning ;)**

_Chapter 27_

_Every Time You Go I Feel It In My Soul_

Wednesday came with a vengeance that Aria didn't want to face, and because of that fact, she spent most of the day sleeping. There was a common knowledge among people that the first three days after any type of accident were usually the worst, and though most of her injuries were cuts and scrapes from glass, she was also covered in plenty of bruises.

One floor up, Ezra was slowly starting to surface into consciousness. It was an internal struggle between the physical exhaustion his body was feeling, combined with the pain medication he was being given every couple of hours, to actually come out of consciousness for more than a few seconds. The closer he came to consciousness though, the more he became irritated by the tube running down into his throat.

Adriana sat down in a chair next to Ezra's bed, holding a cup of starbucks coffee. She'd reluctantly left the hospital for a few hours to attend some of her classes, though she hadn't actually focused on them. Much like Hardy, Serena, Ella, and Byron, her head was stuck in that hospital room, thinking of nothing much besides her brother and whether or not he was going to be okay. She was grateful that Aria was going to be okay, but Ezra was her best friend, and she was terrified of what things would be like if he didn't wake up the same way he had been when he and Aria had left Hollis two days earlier.

Serena walked into the room a few moments later and looked up at her daughter. "I thought you had a class at two." "It got cancelled," Adriana said. She was lying, but she couldn't imagine having spent another minute in that building. She looked back down at Ezra. "Has he woken up yet?" Serena shook her head. "Not yet. He's certainly fighting to wake up though. The doctor is trying to figure out if she can take that tube out of his mouth." "What about the one in his chest?" Adriana asked.

Serena was about to say something, when Dr. Logan walked in. She stepped around the chair Serena was seated in and picked Ezra's chart up off the bed before walking over to the machines monitoring his blood pressure and heartbeat. She checked his IV bag and then scribbled something onto his chart and settled it on the end of the bed. She clasped her hands together in front of her and then looked to Serena and then to Adriana.

"I've reviewed the tests we did this morning, and I see no reason why we can't pull the tube. I'd like to wait until he's awake, and then switch him to a nasal cannula. We're still watching his lungs and his brain very closely, but with any luck, the chest tube should be able to be pulled tomorrow or Friday."

"Thank god," Serena murmured. Adriana just smiled and reached over to grip Ezra's left hand gently.

"You need to wake up, Ezra."

Ezra groaned suddenly and Adriana jumped. Her eyes grew wide and Serena couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's reaction.

"Not expecting that, were you dear?"

Adriana let out a chuckle of surprise as she placed her hand against her chest. "No, no, that was the _last_ thing I was expecting."

Ezra groaned again, and his brow furrowed into an expression of pain. A moment later, his eyes fluttered and slowly began to open. He coughed and then his eyes grew wide as he began to choke.

Serena and Adriana both shot up out of their seats, looks of worry spreading across their faces as they looked down at him. "What's happening?" Dr. Logan walked around the bed and shook her head at them. She pulled a pair of gloves from a box resting in a holder on the heart monitor and pulled them on quickly. "It's alright. He's choking because he can breath on his own. Ezra, I'm gonna need to breathe out on the count of three. Squeeze my hand if you understand." She placed two fingers inside his palm and he gripped them tightly. Dr. Logan moved her hands up to the tube and began to count. On three, Ezra exhaled, and she successfully pulled the tube from his mouth. She turned off the machine supplying oxygen to it and then walked over to the hazardous waste bin and tossed it out before walking back over to the bed and retrieving the nasal cannula from beside the bed and wrapping it around his face and turning it on.

Ezra blinked several times, furrowing his brow as he looked around himself. The white walls were a dead giveaway that he was in the hospital, but he had no recollection of how he'd gotten there, or how much time had passed. The last thing he remembered was leaving Hollis with Aria for her appointment with her lawyer.

He cleared his throat and looked up at Adriana and then Serena. "Mom?"

She settled back in her chair next to him as Dr. Logan walked over to the trash and tossed away her gloves. She walked back over to the bed and tucked her hands into her pockets, smiling down at Ezra.

"Ezra, I'm Dr. Logan. Do you know where you are?" "Hospital," he said raspily. "Can't remember what happened, though." He furrowed his brow again and winced.

"Does something hurt?" Dr. Logan asked.

"My head. Feels like someone's tried to split it with a brick."

Dr. Logan nodded.

Serena gently squeezed his broken hand. "Sweetie, you were in a car accident. Do you remember that?"

Ezra closed his eyes, trying to recall the things that his mother was talking about, but all he could remember was leaving Hollis. He had no clue how there had been an accident. That quickly slipped out of his thoughts though, as Aria came to mind. Had she been with him? Was she hurt? Was she okay?

"Aria," he said quickly. He tried to sit up, but only succeeded in making himself extremely dizzy. Comparing this concussion to the last one he'd had wasn't even worth it. This one kicked the one he'd had a few weeks earlier in the ass and left it to die in the street.

"She's okay," Adriana said. "I mean she's hurt, but she's okay. She's sleeping right now."

"I don't…I can't remember anything after leaving Hollis," he said.

Dr. Logan nodded. "That's completely normal. Some people are never able to recall events like that after a trauma."

"How much time has passed?" He asked fearfully. He'd seen enough movies with Aria to know about things where people got into accidents and woke up months or even years later, having missed all that time while all the people in their lives continued to function as if nothing seemed to have happened.

"It's Wednesday," Serena said. "You've been in and out of consciousness since Monday night." Ezra closed his eyes again for a moment. His head seemed to hurt less that way. He recalled what he had thought to be a dream; Aria sitting next to him holding his hand. He'd tried to reach up and touch her, but then everything had gone black again.

"That wasn't a dream?" He murmured.

"What wasn't a dream, sweetie?" Serena asked.

Ezra looked up at her. "Aria was in here? In a wheelchair?"

"Yeah," Adriana said. "Yesterday."

Dr. Logan reached up to the check the IV bag. "I'm going to order a fresh bag of fluids. Can you tell me where your pain is on a scale of one to ten?"

"Eight," Ezra murmured.

Dr. Logan nodded. "Alright. I'll be back."

Ezra pulled his hand from Adriana's and reached up to rub his eyes. Touching his face hurt like hell, but he managed. Afterwards, he grabbed the remote on the bed and adjusted it so that it wasn't resting so flatly.

"So one of you want to tell me what happened?" He asked a few minutes later.

Adriana and Serena both exchanged looks.

"We were kind of hoping you'd be able to tell us," Serena said. "We don't really know, sweetie."

"Does Aria remember?" He asked.

Adriana shrugged as she lifted her cup of coffee to her lips. "She was only up here for a little while last night, and she didn't say much. Her mom said she's got one hell of a concussion, and she didn't wake up in a very good mood today, so she's been sleeping. I told her to text me if she wanted me to keep her company."

Ezra nodded. He looked up at Adriana. "Will you go see if she's awake?"

Adriana nodded and pushed up out of her seat.

_-  
>It's hard to love again, when the only way it's been,<br>__When the only love you've known, just walked away  
>- <em>

One floor below, Aria was sitting up in her bed, staring at the text message on her phone. Her bad mood had been well-earned. When she'd woken up that morning, she'd been alone, and had gone on a search for her phone, which her mother had told her she would leave for her while she went home for a few hours. Aria had been half asleep and hadn't heard where her mother had put it. Even so, she'd eventually found it in the drawer of the table next to the hospital bed, resting on top of a legal pad. She had pulled it out, intending to call Adriana or one of her friends, when a text message had greeted her instead.

_**How's this for a tragedy?  
><strong>__**-A**_

Her stomach had coiled at the sight of it. She knew vaguely from what her mother had told her the night before that Jackie had been somehow involved, but now she was worried that someone else from school was also involved, which terrified her. How was it that with every bad thing that seemed to happen in her life, A was always involved?

She had been in too much pain and far too frustrated by the message to stay awake and face the day, and so she had instead decided to shut the day away, and she had crawled back into bed and curled down into the blanket after texting Hanna, Spencer, and Emily and asking them to come after they had finished their first round of finals.

As it was, Spencer awoke her at just after 11:30 in the afternoon when she showed up. Aria was less than surprised that she was the first one to arrive. She was sure Spencer had probably raced through every single one of her finals with pin-point precision and still passed them with flying colors. Even so, she welcomed the gentle hug that came from her best friend when she showed up.

"How are you," Spencer asked warily. "Are you alright? Is anything seriously injured?"

Aria laid back down under the blankets, shaking her head slowly. "Just a really bad concussion." She slipped an arm up behind her head. "Do you know what happened?"

Spencer shrugged. "All I know is that Hanna, Emily and I got text messages on Monday afternoon from A about you." "Can I see?" Aria asked.

Spencer nodded. She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her text messages until she found the one she was referring to. She handed it over to Aria a moment later.

_**When you screw with me, I screw with you.  
><strong>__**Aria wanted tragic. How's dead work for you?  
><strong>__**-A**_

The text message came with an attachment, and Aria looked up at Spencer cagily for a brief moment before she pressed the play button on the phone. She gasped as she watched one car collide into another, and then watched as the silver car she knew to be Ezra's sedan roll three hundred and sixty degrees before landing on all four wheels and proceeding to spin into a tree. It ended a few seconds later, and Aria handed the phone back to Spencer as tears burned in her eyes.

"This is all my fault," Aria said after a few moments.

Spencer shook her head at her. "No, Aria. No one could've known that this would happen."

Aria whimpered, shaking her head at Spencer. "Ezra almost died because of me. Because of A and because of Alison. He didn't _do_ anything wrong, Spence! He was with me because my car wouldn't start Monday morning! Because **I** have issues with **my **parents! He _never_ should've been involved in that accident." "But Jackie-"

Aria cut Spencer off. "Jackie wants _me_ out of the way, Spencer. She caused that accident to get rid of me, just like A did. And I ended up being fine. He's the one who's in the ICU. He's the one who's hurt really bad."

Aria sucked in several deep breaths, trying to keep herself from going off the deep end as her throat tightened from the guilt weighing on her shoulders. The more that it did, the worse her head hurt, and the more it made her sick to her stomach.

"I can't handle this," she cried.

Spencer shook her head, tucking her phone into her pocket. She moved up onto the bed and hugged Aria. "Don't worry about it. Hanna, Emily and I will take care of it. We'll go to the cops." "You can't," Aria insisted. "We all know what A is like. A will come after you guys too if you do that."

Spencer shook her head. "If A was really involved in this like he, she, _it _is taking credit for, then they had to be working with Jackie. Which means Jackie has probably already told the police that. If we go to the cops, this will prove it, and then Jackie won't be the only one caught in the act."

"I don't know, Spence," Aria murmured as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You don't have to know," Spencer told her. "Just let us deal with it. You focus on getting better. Get some more sleep."

"Spence-"

Spencer shook her head at Aria again. "Seriously, Aria, just go to sleep. It'll all be taken care of."

Aria stared at Spencer nervously for a few moments before she finally caved. There wasn't much she could do from a hospital bed as it was.

Spencer waited until Aria had fallen back to sleep before she got up and walked out of the room. She was headed towards the elevators when she bumped right into Adriana.

"Sorry!" Adriana said. "I wasn't watching where I was going." She paused, realizing she knew the girl standing in front of her. "Wait, you're Aria's friend right? Spencer?"

Spencer nodded, tucking her phone into her pocket. "I just came from her room. She's sleeping again." Adriana nodded. She brushed her arms up and down her body. "Ezra's awake. He's asking questions, and he was hoping Aria was awake." Spencer looked back down the hall behind her, contemplating going back to Aria's room. On one hand, she knew that Aria would really want to see Ezra if she knew he was awake, but on the opposite hand, she knew that Aria was also pretty upset about the accident and blaming herself for it. She knew that it probably wasn't the best environment for Aria to go into, when both Adriana and Serena were going to be there.

"She's really not having the best day," Spencer said finally. "Everything that's happened is eating at her, and she feels like the accident is her fault because of Jackie. Don't tell Ezra that, though." Adriana shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "The only person whose fault it is, is Jackie's. I can't believe my brother ever dated that psycho."

Spencer laughed. "Hey, just be glad he didn't actually marry or _breed_ with her."

Adriana's eyes grew wide and she shuddered at the thought. She feigned vomit noises and chuckled.

"I think if he'd done that, I would've disowned him." Adriana laughed.

_-  
>Its now a quarter past<br>__Too late, nothing new  
>- <em>

Aria awoke after the sun had gone down to find her room empty. She wasn't feeling much better physically or emotionally, but the last thing she wanted was to be alone. She grabbed her phone from the over-bed table and tapped the screen. Three new text messages popped up. Two were from Hanna and Emily asking her to text them when she was up for company. The other was from her parents letting her know that they'd been by while she was asleep, and that Ella would be by in the morning.

She pushed herself up off the bed and walked over to the table across the room and dug through the bag of clothes. She pulled out a fresh pair of grey sweatpants and a grey t-shirt with a silver peace sign on it. She walked over to the bathroom connected to the room and used the facilities, and changed while she was in there.

She walked back out a few minutes later and tossed the dirty clothes onto the table. She was more than grateful that she wasn't attached to an IV pole. She grabbed Ezra's Hollis sweater from where it was hanging on one of the chairs from the day before and pulled it on before she walked over to the bed and grabbed her phone. She tucked it into the pocket of the sweater and then walked over to the door and walked out of her room.

She moved slowly as she headed towards the elevators. Her head was still sore as hell, but she knew enough about concussions to know that if she didn't move too fast and didn't stress her brain, that it helped at least mildly.

Once she reached them, she was fortunate to catch one that someone was just stepping out of. She slid between the doors and then punched the button for the next floor up and leaned against the wall as she waited for it to move. A few moments later, the floor shifted beneath her as the elevator moved in the shaft, and then parked after a few seconds in front of a set of doors in the ICU.

Aria stood up straight and stepped out of the elevator once the doors opened. She crossed her arms loosely across her body as she walked through the halls and passed by the nurses station, heading towards Ezra's room. His room was one hall down and a turn to the left. As she approached the door, she was slightly surprised to not hear any chatter.

She walked up to the door and turned the handle gingerly; she had stitches in both her palms and on the backs of her hands. She pushed the door open and peered her head into the room. Except for Ezra, the room appeared to be empty.

She exhaled a soft sigh and then walked across the room and sat down in the chair next to him. There was a TV mounted up on one of the walls that was playing one of the late shows on one of the public broadcast channels. She looked from it back down to Ezra and rested her right hand over his, gently curling her fingers around the thick bandaging of the temporary cast and brushed her thumb against his.

Ezra groaned and his eyes fluttered as he slowly lifted his head up off his shoulder. It took a moment for his vision to settle. "Thought you were…" His brow furrowed as he realized it was Aria and not Adriana. "Aria."

Before she could stop herself, tears filled her eyes and she squeezed his hand in hers. "You're awake," she cried.

"I'm awake," he repeated back to her. He looked down at her hand curled in his hand and saw the bandaging. He looked back up her, and surveyed the series of cuts and bruises covering her face and neck that he could see. It was like when she had been beat up at school, but ten times worse. He looked up into her eyes and saw the tears on her face. "Come up here."

"I don't want to hurt you," she murmured.

"You're not going to hurt me," he said gruffly. His voice was raw and barely above a whisper.

Aria was tentative to move, but Ezra kept his eyes on her, insisting. After a few moments, she pushed up from her seat and sat down on the edge of the bed. Ezra gently pulled her down against him, running his fingers up and down against Aria's bicep. It took a few seconds, but she eventually settled into the space next to him and buried her face in his shoulder as she finally let her emotions go. It made her head hurt like hell, but it also felt good to let everything out that she'd kept bottled up for two days.

Ezra tilted his head to the side and kissed her forehead, murmuring over and over to her that it was alright.

After a while, when the throbbing in her head outweighed the weight in her chest, Aria calmed and simply rested next to Ezra, though she kept a tight grip on the t-shirt he'd been allowed to put on. The chest tube down and out of his shirt and connected to one of the many poles off to the left side of the bed.

"Do you remember what happened?" Ezra asked when he was sure Aria was calm enough. "The car accident, I mean."

"Bits and pieces," Aria replied. "My mom told me the rest." She tilted her head up to look at him. "Why. You don't?"

Ezra shook his head. "I can't remember anything after leaving Hollis. I don't really remember much out of the last two days either. Everything felt like one big dream. Can you tell me what **you** remember?"

"The breaks wouldn't work," she said as she stared down at the end of the bed. "You ran a red light, and someone hit us. The car rolled and then spun and hit a tree or something."

Ezra nodded. "What else?" "I couldn't get my seatbelt," Aria said. "I thought it was stuck or something, because it wouldn't pull out. You took yours off to try and get it. That's when we ran the light. You tried to pin me back against my seat to protect me, and that's how your wrist got broken."

Ezra listened to what she said with his eyes closed, trying to desperately to recall anything. The best he got were flashes of memory. A flash of slamming into Aria as the car rolled. Of being thrown up against the steering wheel and thrown back in his seat. Of tasting blood in his mouth.

"If I had known that this was going to happen-" Ezra shook his head before Aria could even finish her sentence. "Don't go there. You are **not** to blame for this. Adriana said Jackie was arrested for stripping the breaks. And that doesn't make this your fault. It's pretty clear that this would've happened, regardless of why I was with, if it wasn't her. You can't let that be a reason you blame yourself."

"But if I had-" "No," Ezra insisted. "Nothing you could've done could have prevented this. Nothing you did caused this. Jackie decided to make the choices she made, and it's her fault that these things happened. You are not at _all_ to blame for this accident, alright?"

Aria was reluctant to agree, but she knew Ezra wouldn't drop the subject unless she said yes, and so she did. Even so, she didn't entirely believe in it. As much as she hated Jackie and believed that the accident was at least _partially_ her fault, Aria also knew that it could've been avoided if she had done what Jackie had told her to do when she had told Jackie to leave town after find out about her plagiarizing her paper. If she had done that, none of what had happened in the last six weeks would've happened at all. She'd still be living at home. Ezra would still be living in his old apartment. She wouldn't have such a screwed up relationship with her parents.

"What's going to happen with your court date," Ezra asked after a while.

Aria shrugged, tracing small circles on his chest. "My mom spoke to my lawyer and told him what happened. I guess she told him that if I still wanted to pursue emancipation after I'm released that I'd call him."

"Is that something you want to do?"

Aria was surprised by Ezra's question. Even though her mother had been around in the last few days, she hadn't actually seen or spoken to her father yet, and she was very aware that being on speaking terms and living together were two completely different things. She didn't want to get ahead of herself by making rash decisions.

"I don't really know how to answer that," she said finally.

Ezra tilted his head back so that he could see her, and Aria looked up at him. He rested his fingers on the top of her head, gently brushing his fingers down the back of her hair in a repeated motion.

"I understand that you were pretty sure of what you were going to do on Monday, but you can't tell me that this doesn't change things at least a little," Ezra said. "Your parents have been here actually showing that they care." "So?" Aria said.

"So if my father showed up here and had changed how he used to be and was acting like he cared, I can't promise that I wouldn't want to explore that."

"So you think I should give my parents a chance?" Aria asked

"I'm not sure what I'm saying," Ezra said. "But what I **know** is that my mom and my sister are the two most important people in my life besides you, and if it were me in your position, I'd hope that you would be here trying to convince me to at least _think _about everything before I made that jump."

Aria sighed and started to push up off the bed. Ezra reached his hand up to her shoulder and wrapped his fingers as tightly as he could around her shoulder. Given that his wrist was broken, he grip was barely that of a baby's.

"Hey," he murmured.

"No," Aria argued, brushing his hand off her shoulder. "I can't take this constant back and forth anymore. I'm sick of never knowing what's coming next, and things constantly going up and down. I just want things to be final for once."

"Alright," Ezra said, surrendering. "I just…" He sighed and shook his head. "Do you want to walk away from your parents knowing that there _might_ have been a chance for you to try and fix things? Can you walk away with that 'what if' hanging on your conscience?"

Aria looked back at him for a moment and then down at the blanket covering them.

"Look, I'm not pushing you out of the apartment or telling you that you're wrong for wanting to go forward with everything. If anything, it makes you more independent, but I don't want to see you regret making a choice that might be able to be fixed with time. After all you've been put through by your parents, maybe this is the right thing."

Aria kept her vision on the blanket as she picked at the dirt under her nails. There were a lot of questions he left her with, but she was too afraid to ask most of them.

"And," Ezra added, moving his hand back up to her shoulder. "I'm still going to be here when you make that choice. I'm not going anywhere."

Aria looked back at him. "Promise?"

Ezra nodded. "Now would you come back down here?"

She exhaled loudly and shifted back down on the bed and rested her head on Ezra's shoulder. She wrapped her left arm under Ezra's shoulder and curled her fingers around it, and rested her other arm across his stomach.

"How'd we get here?" Aria murmured.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, how did we go from being so sure that telling my parents was the right thing to do and wanting to be honest about everything, to laying in a hospital bed because people don't want us together? Why does it have to matter so much who I'm in love with if it's hurting anyone?"

Ezra pressed his lips to her forehead. "I honestly don't know."

Aria shifted slightly, turning closer into Ezra. She rested her hand over his where it was lying on her hip and closed her eyes. She hated how every time she felt like she was close to a decision, someone or something decided it wasn't good enough and decided to throw a curve ball in to screw things up. It made her ache that she couldn't remember the last time things had just felt simple with Ezra. That she couldn't remember the last time they weren't running away from something just to get a little peace. Sure, she had some really great and amazing memories from the last few weeks that she never wanted to lose, but they had also been the hardest weeks of her life. She'd been bullied, beaten up, and nearly killed all because people didn't like the choices she was making.

"Things are going to get better right?" She knew it was a stupid question, but she honestly needed to know the answer, and whatever it was, if he really believed it.

"Yes." He was firm in his answer, and felt no need to sugar coat it. He moved his left hand over her hand resting on his stomach and laced his fingers between hers. "Just close your eyes and try to sleep. It'll be better in the morning."

Aria laughed, or at least she tried to. The laugh turned into a sob halfway through, and she struggled to keep from falling apart again. "Unless we're going to wake up in our bed tomorrow and you're going to tell me the last few days have been a dream, I highly doubt that."

"Maybe if you close your eyes and wish _real_ hard," Ezra said. He laughed and then groaned, wincing at the wave of pain that rushed through his body.

"I just don't ever want to lose you," Aria admitted.

"You're not going to."


	29. You Can Have What's Left Of Me

**A/N: Please keep in mind I wrote this chapter before we found out who A was on the show. **That said, I always knew with this story that I was going to expose A, with the involvement of the car accident. (Both of which were planned from the beginning.) At this point, my choice in who A is, rests solely on who I think A is at the moment. (March 18th). My opinion has shifted on this so much in the last few weeks, it's not even funny. BUT, I'm happy with my decision.

_Chapter 28_

_You Can Have What's Left Of Me_

Aria awoke the next morning as the sun streamed from the window and gleamed across her face. She winced at the brightness burning her eyes and turned her head to the side. Having been more than twelve hours since she'd last been given anything for pain, her head was throbbing. She pushed herself up on the bed and looked around the room. For as small as she and Ezra both were, squeezing into a twin hospital bed still proved a little difficult when they were both lying on their backs.

Sensing the shift in the bed, Ezra groaned and pulled his arm free from where it was resting around Aria's waist and brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. Aria stretched her arms over her head as she yawned.

"Time is it?" Ezra asked as he looked around the room.

Aria shrugged. "After seven." She reached up to the over-bed table where she'd placed her phone the night before and grabbed it. She tapped on the screen. She had missed calls and messages. She cleared the screen and stared at her display screen for a moment. It was a photo of she and Ezra in times square from their weekend in New York. Their heads were pressed together and Aria was leaning backwards a bit. They both were laughing. His arms were wrapped around her waist, and her hands were resting on his shoulders.

"It's seven fifteen," murmured as she finally let her eyes fall to the time. She settled her phone back on the table and turned on the bed so that her legs were hanging off of it. "My mom is going to freak if she shows up and I'm not down in my room."

"Or she might be logical and just assume you're up here with me."

Aria looked back at him and smiled. She laid back down on the bed facing towards the door and wrapped her arm over Ezra's as he wrapped it over her waist. "I don't want to go anywhere."

He chuckled and kissed the back of her head and then groaned, wincing as a wave of pain rushed through his entire body. "Can we just go back to sleep and wake up in our bed?"

"God I hope so," Ezra replied.

Aria sighed and closed her eyes. She turned her head and brought his hand up to her chest. She tilted her head down and kissed his knuckles. She still couldn't shake feeling like it was her fault that Ezra was hurt so badly. Regardless of the fact that she was injured as well, her guilt for how badly he was hurt was overwhelming.

"There you two are!"

Aria opened her eyes as the door opened. Ezra turned his head and rested his chin on the top of her head as Serena and Ella walked into the room. Both were carrying cups of coffee from Starbucks.

"Should've known better than to think you'd stay in your room," Ella said lightly. "The nurses had a field day last night when they couldn't find you."

"Did you tell them to look up here?" Aria asked.

Ella nodded. "I was told that they checked on the both of you and then just left you both to sleep."

"I just passed Dr. Logan on our way in here," Serena said. "She'll be bringing breakfast in for you in a bit. You think you can manage to eat something today?" She asked Ezra.

He hadn't really had anything since Monday, and while part of him was absolutely starving, his pain had yet to level out.

"I could give some toast a chance," he said.

Serena sat down in the chair next to the bed, and Aria pushed up off of it glumly.

"Dr. Hale said he'd like to do an MRI this morning to make sure all is well with your head, but after that he said that he sees no reason you can't be released this morning." Ella told Aria. Aria looked back at Ezra. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"They're springing you from this joint. Be excited! I'm still connected to all these tubes. I'm bored already." Ezra said.

"All hope is not lost!" Said a cheerful voice. Everyone looked towards the doorway. Dr. Logan walked in and smiled brightly at each of them. It made Aria wonder if the woman had already had more than one cup of coffee that morning. "Are we all family?"

"This is Aria," Serena said, pointing to her. "Ezra's girlfriend. And her mother."

Dr. Logan nodded. She turned back to Ezra. "I'd like to get a chest x-ray done, but with any luck, we should be able to pull the chest tube today and move you down to a regular room. I heard there was a bit of fuss last night too, so we're going to do about getting your pain medication adjusted today."

"Great," he said, though he was less than enthusiastic about it. "When can I get out of here? I'd rather not spend my birthday in a hospital bed."

Dr. Logan nodded, looking down at Ezra's chart. "I can't say anything about today, but if everything goes great in the next twenty-four hours, we'll see if we can't get you discharged tomorrow morning. And that's a big **if**. For now, lets just see how we're doing with your lungs. I'll be back in a few minutes."

She turned and walked out of the room, and Aria pushed herself up from the bed. She leaned over and pecked Ezra on the lips and then got off the bed.

"I'll go get a wheelchair," Ella said before walking out of the room.

Aria crossed her arms loosely across her body and looked from Serena to Ezra. "What're you going to do if you get released?"

Ezra looked over at Serena.

"I've got to get back to New York at _least _for a few days. I'd like to put in for FMLA, but these last few days I've just been calling in sick." Serena said. "I'd **like** for you to come home for a few weeks. I doubt you're going to be allowed to just return to daily activities right away, and you're both too injured to take care of each other."

"I've got work-"

"That _someone else _can get taken care of," Serena said, cutting Ezra off. "We'll talk more about it later. Nothing has to be decided right this minute."

The conversation was dropped as Ella and Dr. Logan reentered the room a moment later. An orderly followed them in and walked over to Ezra's bed. Aria settled in the wheelchair and a few moments later, she was being pushed down the hall towards the elevators. While they waited, she could hear the chatter of other patients and movement of other beds. Distantly, she could hear Ezra headed her way.

The elevator eventually chimed and the doors opened up. Ella pushed Aria inside the shaft and then pressed the button for the floor below them. The doors pulled shut and they made their way down to the medical floor. They opened up again and Ella pushed Aria out of the elevator and down to her room.

Time passed swiftly for a while after that as Aria was taken down to radiology. She had to wait behind Ezra for an MRI, and then once the scan was done, she was taken back to her room and given breakfast while she waited for Dr. Hale to return with the scans.

A short while later, he walked in the room, and gave the good news that Aria was safe to be released. He prescribed her pain reliever for her concussion with the intention that if she was still having bad headaches after a few days to return to the hospital, and to make a follow-up appointment with her doctor to have her myriad of stitches removed. He set off to draw up her discharge papers, and then with Ella's help, Aria changed into a pair of loose black sweatpants and a loose maroon tank top.

"I'd like to go to school," Aria said as she slipped her feet into her black low-top converse shoes.

"Aria," Ella said. "You shouldn't be doing anything that could stress your brain. You heard Dr. Hale-"

"So if I can't remember the answer to something or I don't know it, I'll skip it," she said. "C'mon, mom. I don't want to spend the summer retaking classes that I didn't pass because someone stripped the brakes on Ezra's car. That's not fair."

Ella nodded. "You're right, it's not." She sighed and shook her head at Aria. "Let's just get you home first."

"I promise I won't do anything else," Aria insisted. "I just want to be finished like everyone else."

Dr. Hale returned to the room a few minutes later, pushing their conversation to the back burner. He delivered Aria's discharge papers to Ella and handed over the prescription before they were led out of the hospital with Aria in a wheelchair.

Ella drove Aria back to her apartment and then followed her inside, carrying Aria's bag. Aria stared around the apartment as she stood in the sitting room, feeling disconnected from it all in a way. So much had shifted in just three days.

"We understand if you choose to stay here, but your father and I talked last night, and we'd like if you would come home at least until Ezra is released from the hospital, so we can make sure you're alright." Ella said.

Aria couldn't disagree with the offer. She didn't really want to spend the next few days alone, whether she'd be sleeping through most of it or not. At least if she was at home with her parents, she'd have people around.

"Alright," she murmured.

She and Ella walked into the bedroom and she pulled some clothing out that she'd be comfortable in for the next few days, and then Aria snatched Ezra's pillow from his side of the bed and let her mother lead her back out of the apartment. She made sure to grab her school bag and her keys. She had no clue how her or Ezra's things had been returned to the apartment, but she didn't let it fester on her brain. As they were pulling out of the parking space in front of the apartment, Aria looked over at her mother.

"Where's my car?"

Ella looked over at her for a moment and then looked back to the road. Aria had her hand wrapped tightly around her seatbelt, and every few seconds, she gave it a good tug to make sure it was in fact buckled.

"Your friends mentioned that it wouldn't start the other day. And, after everything that happened with the accident, your father and I wanted to make sure your car hadn't been tampered with, so we had it taken over to the shop to make sure it was working. They fixed it, and it's back at the house right now."

Aria furrowed her brow. It hurt her head, but she was honestly curious. "So you _knew_ I'd agree to come h- stay with you?"

"We hoped," Ella said with a corrective tone.

They pulled up in front of the high school a few moments later and Aria looked over at her mother, her mouth slightly agape.

"I'm going to talk with the principal and see if we can't get you to do some of your finals today in the office, away from all the commotion. If everything goes alright today, then we'll see about you coming in tomorrow and taking the rest."

Aria didn't say anything. She was just grateful for the chance. She followed Ella into the school and kept her hopes up. Within a half-hour, she was settled in a room inside the office and given her English final, with a ninety minute time limit. It involved an essay, but she managed to cover most of the questions with the first half hour. Afterwards, she completed the essay portion, and then headed out into the office and handed over the papers to her mother. In turn, she was given her history final with the same instructions.

The next few hours passed in the same fashion as Aria did her history final and then her science final. Afterwards, she and Ella headed back to the Montgomery home. Aria was exhausted and desperate just to get some rest. Ella was also determined to find a way for Aria to either have help or get around taking her geometry final. She was worried all the work would be too taxing for Aria to do, and she knew that there was no way she was going to be able to convince Aria to put off taking the test until a later date. Aria wanted to be off for the summer just like everyone else without having to worry about returning to school.

When they pulled up to the house, Aria left everything but the pillow in the car, and then made a straight shot for her bedroom. She didn't know if her father or if Mike were home, and she didn't really care to find out. She wasted no time making her way up to her room and crawling into her bed. She turned her phone down to silent and snuggled under the blankets before closing her eyes and shutting out the world

_-  
>Why do I always use the words that cut the deepest<br>__When I know how much it hurts you  
>- <em>

She awoke later in the day to find the sun had already set. Her head was pounding again and her stomach was growling. Aria pushed up off of her bed and tossed the blankets back. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and brought the screen up. She had several new messages. She opened them up.

"_Hanna said she saw you at school?"  
><em>_-Spencer_

"_Can we see you? We need to talk about  
><em>_You know who."  
><em>_-Emily_

"_Did I see you at school? We need  
><em>_to talk."  
><em>_-Hanna_

She closed the messages and then sent a message to them that she'd just woke up, and that she'd find a way to meet up with them. She got out of her bed and walked across the room. Her mother must've brought her bags up to the room at some point, as they were lying on her floor. Aria pulled out a pair of cotton shorts and a fresh tank top. Both were different shades of blue. She also grabbed one of Ezra's sweatshirts that she'd stolen and pulled it on. It was a black sweater with white lettering on the back of some band that he liked.

She grabbed her shoes and purse and then walked out of her room and headed down the stairs. She made her way into the kitchen. Ella and Byron were settled at the table, talking. Aria rubbed her eyes as she walked into the room and looked up at them.

"Aria," Byron said, slightly surprised. "It's good to see you awake."

Aria nodded at him. She wasn't quite sure what to say to him. The last thing he'd said to her was that they shouldn't have tried to fix anything in the first place.

Ella pushed up from the table and walked over to the counter near the sink. "Would you like something to eat? We ordered pizza a while ago."

Aria shrugged. "Can I go out for a little while? I haven't seen any of my friends since everything happened."

Aria knew that was a lie. She'd seen Spencer the day before, but that hadn't been a proper conversation. And even so, she needed to see her friends and find out what they knew about 'A', and how 'A' had been involved in the accident.

"Are you sure you're alright to drive?" Ella asked cautiously.

Aria nodded. "It'll just be a few hours, I swear," she said. "I'm just going to meet up with them at the grill. Maybe stop by the hospital on my way back."

Ella nodded. "Okay. I picked up your prescription. Are you in need of pain meds?"

Aria nodded. Ella gathered Aria the proper dosage and then got her a glass of water and then walked over to the table and settled them in front of Aria. She and Byron exchanged a look and then she turned and walked out of the room while muttering something about checking on Mike. Aria took the medication and then sat down and settled one shoe on the floor while she started to pull on the other.

"Can we speak for a few minutes?" Byron asked Aria.

Aria looked up at him for a brief second and then down back at her shoe. "I guess."

"Aria…" He paused for a moment. "What I said at Hollis wasn't right. It wasn't fair. I should've given you a chance to speak. Your mother and I both should have. We should've realized sooner just how close we were to losing you. I honestly wish we had because then maybe your accident wouldn't have happened."

"You do **know**that I'm not going to break up with Ezra, right?" She asked. "And that just because I'm here for tonight doesn't mean I'm staying?"

Byron nodded. "I understand we have a slow climb in front of us in order to get back what we had as a family. I hope that you'll give your mother and I that chance."

Aria pulled her laces on her shoe and tied them. She looked up at Byron as she grabbed her other shoe and pulled it on. "Lets just see how we do today. One day at a time, right? Ezra's my family now too."

Byron nodded again. Aria finished lacing up her shoes and then stood up straight. She adjusted her clothing and grabbed her purse and then walked over to the side of the fridge where the keys were hanging on hooks, and grabbed hers. She walked across the room and headed out of the kitchen.

"Aria?"

She turned around and looked back at her father as she headed for the door. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

A small smile attempted to pull at the corners of her mouth. "I love you too, dad."

With that, she turned and walked to the door and then headed out of the house. Her car was parked a few feet away from the driveway, on the street. She walked over to it and got into the drivers seat and settled her bag in the passenger seat. She started the car and pulled her seatbelt on, and then just sat there for a moment. She pulled on the belt to make sure it was secure and then shifted the car into drive. The street was empty.

She pressed her foot lightly on the gas and then quickly shifted her foot to the brake. The car stopped and she lurched forward slightly at the sudden stop. She knew that her fear wasn't going to go away right away. She knew it would take time to get used to driving a car without fearing that something was going to go wrong, but it comforted her to know that, at least for the moment, she could make sure it didn't stop.

She made her way over to the grill as she'd told her parents and ordered herself a burrito, but then drove back to her and Ezra's apartment, where she'd _really_ told her friends to meet her. If there was any chance that A was around, then she didn't want to risk getting hurt again.

She got out of her car once she'd pulled up outside the apartment and grabbed her food and her purse from the passenger seat and then got out of the car. Hanna, Emily, and Spencer were all getting out of Spencer's car. Aria walked over to the door and unlocked it, and then the four of them walked into the house. Aria walked over to the sitting room and placed her bags on the coffee table and then walked into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water. Spencer, Hanna, and Emily followed after her and each got themselves a glass as well, and then they walked back to the sitting room. Aria sat down on the chair while Spencer and Hanna sat down on the couch. Emily opted for the floor.

"So what's going on with A?" Aria finally asked as she unwrapped her burrito.

"We went to the cops like we said we wanted to," Hanna started. She looked over at Emily. Emily looked back at Spencer and then to Aria. "We know who A is."

"How?" Aria exclaimed. She suddenly was too anxious to eat, and put her burrito back into her bag. She crossed one leg over the other and gripped the arms of the chair she was in. "Who is it?"

"When we went to the cops, we ran into Garrett," Spencer said. "I know we all agreed that we can't trust him because of Jenna, but he said that Jackie was saying things about having help. That she wasn't the person who came up with the idea to strip the brakes. She just did it."

"So who did it!" Aria said louder. She wanted to know who had been torturing her for almost nine months. She wanted to know who had tried to kill all of them at least once.

"Maya." Emily said it simply. It was as if she had entirely disconnected herself from what she was saying. And she had to, Aria supposed. How else could she possibly be okay with saying it out loud.

"You're sure?" Aria said.

The girls nodded.

"I asked to see her," Spencer said. "As a visitor. I made her think that I didn't believe she did it, and asked her who it was that she was talking to. She told me what Maya looked like, and then said she had the phone number of the person she'd been talking with since she tried to break you and Ezra up. Garrett got the phone for me and I wrote down all her recent calls, and then we went through the list. We knew it wasn't Ezra, and the only other number that was in common with ours, and fit her description was Maya."

Aria sunk back in her chair. "Wow." She took several deep breaths and let the information sink in. She looked up at Emily. "Em, are you okay?"

Emily shrugged. "I'm not really anything right now. I don't know if I should be angry or sad."

"We all turned our phones over to the police," Hanna said. She didn't seem happy about it. "And we gave up everything else we have on A. We were hoping you'd do the same."

Aria nodded. "I'll take everything I have in tomorrow." She paused for a moment, still trying to digest everything. She didn't understand how Maya knew everything she did about them, or why she had hurt all of them in the ways she had. She hadn't known any of them. None of this made any sense. "Does anyone know where Maya is?"

The other three girls shrugged.

They all sat there for a while longer, but eventually they all headed their separate ways. They all needed sleep for the last day of finals, and Aria wanted to go over to the hospital before she went home. She packed up a few more things from the apartment and then grabbed her food and her purse before she headed out.

She drove over to the hospital and made sure her car was locked with her things in her trunk before she headed up into the hospital. She made sure to text Adriana to find out what room Ezra was in, and then took the elevator up to the medical floor. When she stepped off the elevator, a smile spread across her face. Ezra and Adriana were headed her way. He was dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Look, no tubes," he joked as she walked up to them.

Aria leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Are you alright?"

Ezra nodded. "Just feeling restless. We decided we'd take a walk. How was your day?"

Aria shrugged, wrapping her arm across his back as they turned around. Ezra wrapped his arm around her while his other hand was wrapped around his IV pole. Adriana was standing on his other side, ready to move if he got dizzy.

"Standard? I got some clothes and then went over to school and took three of my finals as best I could. I think I passed all of them pretty well. After that I went to my parents place and slept for like six hours."

"You're okay over there?" Ezra nodded.

Aria nodded. "It's just for a few days. We'll see what happens afterwards."

They walked slowly back to Ezra's room, which was only a few doors down from the room Aria had been in until that morning. Adriana dismissed herself for the night and then headed out of the hospital, leaving Aria and Ezra in his room alone. His over-bed tray still had dinner on it.

Ezra laid down on his bed, and then Aria joined him, curling up against his side as Ezra flipped through the channels on the TV. There were very few channels that actually had anything interesting on, so eventually they settled on watching the news. Aria paid little attention to it as she rested with her hand underneath Ezra's chest. It was a security she needed, to be able to have skin on skin contact, and feel his heart beating. Part of her hand rested over his chest where he had stitches from the chest tube being placed. It was something she was so used to being able to do at home, and yet being here and having seen him be so terribly injured made her appreciate it in ways she hadn't before.

She looked up when she heard something about their car accident. There was very little said, beyond the fact that one person had been released and that the other was out of the ICU. Aria couldn't help but be grateful that they weren't giving names. She didn't need the trouble from other students from school. Even if the year _was_ over, people still had a way of talking about you.

"Where's your mom," Aria asked after a while.

"Back in New York," Ezra murmured. He turned the volume down on the TV and then shifted on the bed to look at her. "She wants Adriana and I up there as soon as Adriana finishes her finals. Her last one is on Monday."

Aria nodded, pursing her lips.

"You know you're welcome to come with me," he told her. "My mother adores you."

She nodded, giving him a small smile. She curled up against his chest, and closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and ran his left hand up and down her back.

"How do your parents feel about the current situation?" He asked her.

Aria shrugged, keeping her face buried in his chest. "Like I do. That we should take things one day at a time and not make any solid decisions at the moment. I think they want me to move back home now, though. I hate it."

"Why?" Ezra chuckled softly. "Because you thought you knew everything there was to know about the current situation, and it turns out you're wrong?"

Aria huffed. "It's not fair. After everything that's happened, all of a sudden they've decided to care again. My dad told me he loved me tonight. He hasn't said that in weeks. The last time I spoke to him, he was writing me off."

Ezra kissed her head. "It's going to take time. Things won't change over night. But maybe you owe it to yourself to give it a chance to work itself out. You'll never know until you try, and like I said last night, you don't want that what if hanging over your head. If it doesn't work out, you know you've got somewhere to go."

Aria looked up at him with a pout on her lips. "And what if it _does_?"

Ezra smiled. "Then it's just eleven months until your eighteenth birthday. And only a year away from being free from all of this. But if there's a way that your parents and I can coexist so that everyone is at least satisfied, then you deserve to have it that way. I don't like having you feel like its one or the other."

Aria sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around Ezra's back, resting her head against his chest again so she could hear his heartbeat. She closed her eyes and let the thumping of his heart comfort her. They laid in silence for a while and her thoughts raced over what could happen in the coming weeks. All of it seemed like too much to handle either way. She didn't want to lose her parents, but she didn't want to lose Ezra either. She wasn't sure how she could handle not living with him anymore if things went that way, but she also wasn't sure that she didn't want to be able to go home too.

Eventually, her body started to become too exhausted to give in to the thought processes going on in her head, and she knew that it was time to go. She slowly pushed herself up off the bed and stretched, yawning. Ezra reached his broken hand out to her and grabbed her hand. Aria leaned down and kissed him chastely on the lips and then grabbed her keys off the over-bed table. She pulled her phone from her pocket. It buzzed in her hand. She pressed the green button on the screen.

"Spencer? What's up?"

She listened to her speak, and within a minute, the conversation was over. She tucked her phone back into her pocket and stood there, numb.

Ezra leaned up on the bed. "Aria? What's wrong?"

She shook her head, looking him in the eyes. "I don't….A is dead."

His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. "A as in the person who's been stalking you and your friends for months?"

Aria nodded. She knew she couldn't keep it from him, so she explained the conversation she'd had with her friends at the apartment, and answered Ezra's questions as best she could.

"So how do you know she's dead?" He asked.

Aria shook her head. "Emily called her and started asking questions. They were in the park. I guess she somehow stole Spencer's dad's gun, and shot herself in the head, right in front of Emily."

"Wow. That's harsh."

Aria nodded. She wasn't quite sure how to swallow the information herself. A part of her wasn't quite sure she believed it. She was waiting for her phone to ring and for A to send her a message about tying up loose ends. But the message never came.

Aria sighed after a few minutes and leaned over to kiss Ezra once more. "I've got to go. Call me if you get released tomorrow? Otherwise I'll see you after my finals are done."

Ezra nodded. "Be safe. **Drive safe.**"

Aria nodded. She turned and walked out of the room. As she headed towards the elevators, she was already calling Emily's cell. It took a while, but eventually the line clicked over, and she could tell that Emily was upset. She told Aria that Hanna and Spencer were already with her.

"Can you come over?" Spencer asked when she'd taken the phone from Emily.

Aria stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the exit. "No. My parents would flip out if I left the first night I'm back in their house, even if it _is_temporary. Can you guys come stay by me?"

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment. Aria rested her phone on her shoulder as she grabbed her things from her trunk and placed them in her passenger seat. She checked the back seat out of habit, and then rounded the car and got into the drivers seat and started the car. She pulled on her seatbelt, checked that it was secure, and then did the same thing with her brakes. She put the car back into park as Spencer finally spoke again.

"We'll be there in a little bit."

The line went dead, and Aria placed her phone in her purse. She drove back home and made her way into the house. Ella was coming out of the kitchen when she walked in.

"How's Ezra?" She asked.

Aria shrugged. "He's alright. Spencer, Hanna and Emily are coming over."

Ella looked ready to launch into a lecture, but Aria was quick to explain what had happened with Maya. Ella seemed to have more understanding after that, and then told her to be sure that they were quiet. Aria waited until the girls had shown up and were in the house before she headed up to her room. She and Spencer agreed to share her bed while Hanna and Emily opted for the floor.

"I keep waiting for my phone to ring," Hanna said as she got situated underneath the blanket she and Emily were sharing.

The other girls nodded in agreement. There was very little they could say, and Emily was too shaken to say much.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can get you?" Aria kept asking. Emily kept insisting that she was alright. As the clock ticked towards midnight, Aria knew she needed to drop the subject so that they could all get some sleep. They all had tests to pass in the morning, and she didn't want to be the cause of their failure. With goodnights passed around the room, Aria switched of the lamp next to her bed and sunk down on it, holding Ezra's pillow tightly against her chest. She buried her face in it, breathing in his scent. It wasn't the same, but it would do. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the silence.


	30. I Come To You In Pieces

**A/N: One more chapter... Reviews = love!**

_Chapter 29_

_I Come To You In Pieces  
>So You Can Make Me Whole<em>

Aria walked out of school the next day with a sense of accomplishment washing over her. Her phone still had yet to ring, which was extremely comforting to her, and she'd done her best on her finals. She knew that she probably hadn't aced them all, but she hoped that the work she **had** done on them was enough to earn her passing grades. Truly the only thing that was on her mind though, was the fact that for three months, she wouldn't have to think about anything that had to do with school, and she could spend as much time with Ezra as she wanted.

She headed her car in the direction of the hospital. She'd not received a message just yet that he had been released, and she assumed that he probably wasn't going to be that day. Part of her felt terrible because she couldn't imagine spending her birthday in a hospital bed. Just a few days ago, they'd had plans, and they were going to spend the weekend in Philadelphia. She hadn't even had time to buy him a gift yet.

She pulled into the hospital parking lot and turned her car off before grabbing her bag from the passenger seat. She got out and crossed the parking lot, doing her best to ignore the occasional throb in her head. If she could just make it up to Ezra's room, she'd be able to nap for a while.

Once she entered the hospital, she ignored the option of taking the elevator and instead took the stairs to the second floor. She pushed through the doorway and headed straight to Ezra's room, not bothering to stop and talk to anyone.

When she pushed his door open, he looked up at her.

"It's barely one. You're finished already?"

Aria nodded, dropping her bag into her chair. She slipped out of the flats she was wearing and crawled up into his bed and laid her head down on his shoulder. Ezra's arm moved instinctively around her as he pressed his lips to her forehead. She winced slightly as her head throbbed again, but wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Finals were pretty easy. Or at least what I could remember," she murmured. "I'm just glad I don't have to go back to school."

Ezra brushed the fingers of his left hand through her hair and kissed her forehead. "I won't make you talk anymore. Go to sleep."

Aria rolled her shoulders and turned her head into his neck and yawned. "Thank you."

Ezra turned his attention back to the TV and picked up the remote off the opposite side of the bed and flipped through the channels. Laying in a hospital bed with Aria on his birthday was the last thing he had expected to have happen, but he couldn't complain. There were three months that could be spent doing nothing or whatever they set their minds to, and he was happy that they were going to have the time to decide.

He rested his head against hers and moved the fingers of his broken hand up and down leisurely against her bicep. He could tell by the way she was breathing that she was asleep. He was less than surprised. He understood the fact that she didn't want to spend the summer making up classes she had already passed because they'd gotten into an accident in the last week of school, but he also wasn't all that happy that she had driven herself so hard to get everything done in the same time frame as her fellow students. He knew that even though she wasn't as outwardly injured as he had been, that she still had one hell of a concussion. He also knew how badly a concussion could affect someone's thought process and memory. He knew her memory of the accident was hazy, even though his was nonexistent beyond a few flashes.

Even so, he was surprised they were still together, after the last nine months. Between the near-misses of almost getting caught while he was still working at the high school, and then the fallout with her parents over the last six weeks, there had always been a small part of him that worried that one thing or another following whatever had previously happened was finally going to break them apart. Nothing had more than when her parents had insisted they break up, and yet they'd still found a way to make it work and stay together. He couldn't help but wonder if there was a specific reason the two of them were still together. He wasn't really one who believed in things being 'destined' to happen but it seemed no matter how much he and Aria were pulled apart, they were constantly brought back together.

_-  
>Lift it up like a banner<br>__Hold it up over me  
>- <em>

Aria yawned and groaned as she pushed up off the hospital bed. Judging by the fact that she'd slept through the rest of the afternoon again, she was sure she was in for it when she got back to her parents house.

Ezra lifted his head up and stretched his arms out next to her. He looked over at her. "What's going on?"

Aria pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked up at him. "It's almost ten o'clock. I'm going to get so much crap for being late." She yawned and ran a hand through her hair. She moved off the bed and leaned over to kiss him. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Ezra nodded. "With any luck, I'll be out of here in the morning."

Aria nodded. She picked up her bag from the floor and then walked out of the room. At the same time, she was already dialing her mother's cell phone. She had six missed calls over the last eight hours, and they were all from her parents.

The line dropped as she stepped into the elevator and she huffed. She tapped her foot impatiently as the elevator seemed to move slower than it ever had to the first floor. Eventually though, the doors slid open and she stepped out of the elevator. She was about to redial her mother's number when her phone started to buzz in her hand. She hit the green talk button and then brought the phone up to her ear.

"_I realize that it was the last day of school today, but you're healing, Aria Rose. I hope like **hell** you're going to tell me that you were at least resting." _

Aria gulped, walking through the automatic sliding doors, out of the hospital. "I'm sorry. I fell asleep in Ezra's room. I've been there the whole time."

Ella exhaled a sigh, presumably of relief. _"Alright. Drive carefully."_

"I will. See you soon." Aria pulled her phone away from her ear a few moments later and tucked it back into her pocket as she approached her car. She grabbed her keys from her bag and unlocked it before she got in and started it. She hated her body for being injured, because she was still exhausted. Another yawn escaped her and then she pulled her seatbelt on and pulled out of the parking space.

She headed off in the direction of her parents house, though she stopped off long enough to grab fast food from a restaurant. When she got to the house, she pulled into the driveway and then grabbed her things and headed into the house. She took a chance and left her car unlocked. There wasn't anything in it worth stealing as it was, and if Maya was really A and really was dead, then there was no reason to feel panicked.

She walked into the house and closed the door behind her. Ella walked through the sitting room, over to her.

"Sorry," Aria murmured quickly. "I didn't mean to be gone this long."

Ella nodded. She was clearly still upset, but she didn't seem to let on much about it. "I'd _love_ to yell at you for making your father and I worry about you. Especially after this week. **But**, I understand that right now we need to tread softly with you. I just would like it if you would tell us when you're coming and going."

Aria nodded, reaching a hand up to scratch the back of her head. "Well, Ezra's probably going to be released tomorrow, so I'll probably be going home when he does."

"Oh."

There was only a hint of disappointment on Ella's face for a mere moment before the look was gone and she smiled at Aria. She hugged her and then said it was late before heading up the stairs.

Aria stood there for several minutes, watching long after her mother had finished ascending the stairs. She knew that her parents seemed to honestly be trying, but she wasn't quite sure why Ella was upset that she had said she wanted to go home. In her mind, her apartment with Ezra **was** her home now. For all the things she'd been through, he'd never shut her out or told her to go away. He was where she found comfort and safety. A part of her did feel bad that her parents wanted her to stay, but she could she really _honestly_ agree to something like that after everything that had happened? Especially so soon?

She shook her head and finally made her way up the stairs to her room. She munched down on her dinner and then changed into a pair of pajamas and washed up in her bathroom before crawling into bed. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and checked her messages. She had one.

"_I'm going to pick Ezra  
><em>_Up from the hospital tomorrow.  
><em>_Want to come?"  
><em>_-Adriana_

Aria typed out a quick reply back, agreeing to the activity before she settled her phone back on the nightstand and turned the light out. She shifted down onto the bed, pulled Ezra's stolen pillow tight against her body and then closed her eyes.

She awoke the next morning to the sound of her cell phone buzzing loudly on the nightstand. It was barely nine AM, but Adriana was clearly already awake. She pushed the green button on the LED screen and pushed herself up on her bed.

"Hello?"

"_Hey? You awake? Ezra's being released at ten." _

Aria yawned and shook her head, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, I can be ready. I miss my bed as it is."

Adriana chuckled on the other end of the line. _"Great. I'll pick you up in half an hour?" _

"Sure."

She hung up her phone a moment later and settled it back on the nightstand before dropping back against her pillows. She closed her eyes for a minute and then tossed back the covers and swung her legs over the bed. She desperately needed a shower, but there was so much bandaging that had to be done to keep her injuries clean that it made her wonder if she'd be ready in time.

She shrugged off the thought and walked to her bathroom anyway and turned the shower on. She wasted no time stripping off her clothing and stepping into the shower. She pulled the curtain shut behind her and welcomed the pulsing heat from the shower as it poured down on her body. She quickly lathered shampoo into her hair and washed it up before rinsing it and then conditioning as well. Afterwards, she filled a washcloth with watermelon scented body wash and quickly lathered her body, being as careful as possible with her many scabs and stitching sites.

She stepped back under the stream of water and let the suds wash off of her body. Once she was sure they'd all been washed down the drain, she turned the shower off and pushed the curtain back. She grabbed a towel from the linen closet next to the shower and wrapped it tightly around her body before grabbing another and drying her hair with it. She was a little surprised that her parents kept it stocked even after she had left, but it was also convenient.

She dropped the towel to the floor a few moments later and then walked out of her bathroom, into the bedroom. She walked over to her closet and dug through it for a moment before pulling out a tunic. It had cap sleeves and a swirling design across the front in a darker shade of pink. She pulled out a grey skirt as well that fell to mid-thigh.

She walked over to her bed and dropped them onto the bed and then walked over to her dresser and pulled out a matching bra and panty set as well as a pair of tights and a black beanie. She walked back over to her bed and dropped her towel before pulling on the panties and snapping the bra behind her back. She took a brief moment to examine her body. She was still covered in bruises, though some of them were starting to fade. Scabs from various cuts were also starting to lessen. A few had flaked off in the shower, leaving bits of exposed, raw skin.

She grabbed her skirt and stepped into it before zipping it on the side, and then pulled her tunic over her head. She slipped on her tights under her skirt. She walked over to the door and opened it up. She jumped at the sight of her mother standing there in front of her.

"Mom. What's up?"

Ella forced a smile. "We were thinking about going out to breakfast, and your father and I wanted to know if you wanted to join us."

"What about Mike?" Aria asked.

Ella shrugged. "He took off first thing this morning to a friends. They're trying to get into a lacrosse camp that's going on for most of the summer."

Aria nodded. "Well Adriana's on her way here to pick me up. Ezra's being released."

"Oh."

There that word was again, and in the same tone as it had been used the night before. Yet again, Aria felt slightly guilty for the position she was putting her parents in. She sighed and looked down at the beanie in her hand. She walked over to her dresser and grabbed her hair brush, and began to run it through her hair.

"Could you help me with some bandages?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

Ella nodded. "Sure, sweetie. I'll see you downstairs in a few minutes?"

Aria nodded, and watched as Ella turned to leave the room. She finished brushing her hair and then grabbed a black pair of ballet flats and slipped her feet into them before grabbing her phone and purse. She walked out of her room and made her way down the steps and into the kitchen. Ella had an assortment of bandages on the table, as well as the bottles of pain reliever that Dr. Hale had prescribed for Aria. Byron was nowhere in sight.

She walked over to the table and sat down as Ella pulled part pieces of gauze and pulled out bandage clips. For the most part, her injuries could be covered with large bandaids, but the sttiches she had in her hands and wrists forearms needed to be wrapped to keep dirt out and to keep from coming off.

Aria extended one hand to her mother as she settled in a chair. Ella began to wrap her arm, starting mid-way up her forearm.

"Are you and dad upset with me?" She asked.

Ella shook her head, looking up at Aria for a brief moment. "No. Why would you think that?"

Aria shrugged. "Just seems like…" She shook her head again, looking down at the floor.

"Like we don't want you to go?" Ella asked.

Aria nodded and looked up at her. "Yeah."

Ella nodded. "We don't."

Aria was slightly caught off guard by how forward her mother was with her comment, but she couldn't be entirely surprised. If her parents wanted to keep the air clear, then they couldn't afford to beat around the bush in this situation.

"We talked last night for awhile, while you were gone at the hospital. And we understand that we've put you in a tough situation this past month, but we've liked having you back here in the house with us. Believe it or not, we missed you every day that you weren't here, Aria. And, you and Ezra can't really manage taking care of each other when you're both injured. You both need to rest."

Aria gulped. What did this mean?

"We don't want you to feel forced into making a decision, one way or another. We just would like you to know that there's the option to come back home, if that's what you'd like to do," Ella said.

Aria nodded slowly. She dropped her hand as Ella clipped the gauze together and reached for her other hand. "But what about Ezra?"

Ella let out a long breath. "It's a process. Your father and I understand that we can't ask you to end your relationship, and we'd really like to try and give things a chance with you and him. I know he's being released today, so we were wondering if maybe you two would mind staying here until he, or the both of you, head up to New York. No strings, no promises of what may or may not happen. Just some time to try and make things right."

Aria stared at her mother nervously. She didn't know if she could make this decision herself. She and Ezra had become a team from the very minute she had walked out of this home when her father and Mike had beaten him up. She couldn't exactly abandon him and their relationship after all that they had been through and just expect him to be okay with it. Regardless of anything he'd said to her in the last few days, it didn't change the fat that she was torn between her family and him, and what to do about it all. And regardless of how much she loved her family, she wasn't quite sure she could go from living with him, to moving back in with her family like nothing had ever happened.

She exhaled a sigh, and picked up her phone off the table as it began to ring. "I'll think about it, and talk to Ezra, and then I'll let you know. Okay?"

Ella nodded. "I suppose that's all we can really ask."

_-  
>Life is a carousel<br>__Dancing round the mirrors, we go up and down  
>- <em>

Aria laid back against Ezra and turned her head against his. They were stretched out on the floor of her parents living room on an air mattress, watching some movie that Mike had picked out. Ezra's left arm was draped under her head while his right arm was resting lazily over her waist with a small heat pack tucked gently into his hand, just under the cast.

It hadn't taken much for him to agree to stay with her at her parents place. He was aware that they really couldn't take care of each other with how injured they both were, and with the last of Adriana's finals on Monday, he didn't feel right asking her to stay with them. Serena had even agreed that it was probably the best thing to do under the circumstances when she had talked to them on the phone earlier in the afternoon. Granted, she wasn't all that excited about it, but that had more to do with her issues with Ella and Byron than anything else.

Ezra tilted his head against hers and brushed his nose against hers. Aria yawned and moved her left hand up to his and laced her fingers between his. For as much as her body ached, somehow lying with him seemed to make it better. She moved her right hand up to his face and brushed the knuckle of her index finger against a scab on his cheek where glass and cut him in their car accident. Ezra reached up and grabbed her hand, moving it away from his cheek. He kissed her fingertips and then wrapped his arm over her waist again, still holding her hand.

"Alright, could you two be more sickening? Seriously, I'm ready to vomit."

Aria laughed as she looked up at her brother where he was curled up on the couch.

Ezra looked up at him and couldn't help but smile. "Sorry, Mike. You'll get it one day."

"Please, if I'm ever as whipped as you two are, just put me out of my misery." He replied. "I swear someone could snap a whip in front of you two, and you wouldn't hear a thing."

"That's how you know it's real."

The comment surprised Aria and Ezra. It surprised them even more that it had come from Byron. He was the last person either of them ever expected to hear standing up for them, and yet his words seemed to betray their very thoughts.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike asked finally, bringing Aria and Ezra out of their dumbfounded-ness.

"I mean that if the person you're with can so entirely distract you from things that you block out everything but them, in that moment, then that's how you know it's real. That's how you know it's not just something that's bound to end up falling apart one day."

"And what book did you get that out of?" Mike laughed.

"C'mon, Mike," Aria cajoled. "Have a little faith."

"Sorry, I just can't see ever being that whipped," he replied.

Aria shook her head at him and laid back down, snuggling up even closer to Ezra, if only to make more of a point.

"Alright, he murmured. "If I don't go to sleep soon, I'm going to be a walking zombie."

Aria yawned again and nodded, pushing up off the air mattress.

"Isn't it ironic," Ella said, looking to Byron. "It's the first real day of summer, and she's going to bed before 10 PM. To actually **sleep**."

Ella and Byron both laughed at her comment, and Aria tossed a throw pillow at them as she picked up the blanket from her bed off the air mattress. Ella caught it and tossed it playfully back at her daughter.

"Go on up. I'll bring up your meds to you. Ezra, do you need anything?"

He shrugged, lacing his fingers with Aria's as she dropped her free hand to her side. The other was holding her blanket over her forearm. "Just a glass of water."

Ella nodded. Aria and Ezra waved goodnight to everyone and then made their way up the stairs to her bedroom. By the time they made it to her room, they both were ready to drop.

"Inside or outside?" Ezra asked as Aria shook her blanket out over her bed.

Aria shrugged, looking over her shoulder at him. "I'm used to the left side of the bed."

Ezra nodded. "Inside for me it is."

He pulled his t-shirt up over his head while Aria knelt down and tore his duffel bag open. She tossed a clean t-shirt up at him. Ezra caught it mid-air and pulled it down over his head before kicking off the running pants he'd had on all day.

He sat down on the bed and then moved over so that he was almost directly next to the wall, and then Aria sat down on the bed next to him. She reached up and pulled her beanie off her head and then got up and walked over to her dresser. She pulled out a matching set of pink striped pajama shorts and a tank top. She pulled off her clothes and then slipped into the fresh clothing.

Her bedroom door opened just as she was pulling her hair out of her shirt. She turned around and looked up. Ella was carrying two glasses of water and pain medication in each hand. She handed Aria one of the glasses and then waited for Aria to offer a hand before she dropped pills into them. Aria tossed them back into her mouth and then took a drink from the glass of water Ella had given her to swallow them down.

Ella walked over to the bed and handed Ezra the other glass of water.

"Where are your meds?" Aria asked.

"In the bag on the floor." Ezra said.

Aria walked over to the bag and knelt down in front of it. She dug through it for a few moments before pulling out several bottles. One was for pain, another for any infection that he might've contracted from the accident, and the final was a light anti-anxiety medication. Aria was prescribed the same things, although they both had been told that if they needed further treatment, to have their general physicians to refer them to a psychiatrist.

She read the labels on all three bottles and then opened the pain reliever and the antibiotic and handed them each up to Ezra. She placed the bottles back in the bag and then stood up and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Can I get you anything else," Ella asked the both of them.

Aria shook her head, pulling absentmindedly on one of the bandage clips on her left wrist. Ella seemed to stand there a few moments longer than needed before she finally turned and walked out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her. Aria moved up on the bed and pulled the blankets up from the end of the bed. She looked over at Ezra and forced a smile.

"Your parents are enjoying having you here just a little too much," Ezra said teasingly.

Aria rolled her eyes and shook her head. "It's not that big of a deal. They're just glad I'm in the same house as they are again."

Ezra laughed. "I'm sure they'd love to be able to have control over everything in your life again. I'm sure they've already asked you to move back in, right?"

Aria leaned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that what you think of them? That they just want to control my life?"

Ezra shook his head. "Aria, I'm not trying to hurt you. But your parents are probably absolutely in love with the idea of reigning you back into this little world and keeping you here."

"You think they still hate you," she insinuated. "That they don't want you here with me?"

Ezra shook his head at her again. "I more than think they don't want me here, but I don't want to argue with you about this. I just… Maybe you should be careful about the choices you make when it comes to your parents. Don't rush into anything."

Aria leaned back against her pillows with her arms crossed over her chest. They didn't say anything to each other, but Ezra knew she was at odds with him. He honestly didn't want to hurt her, but he had an unrelenting inkling in the back of his mind that Byron and Ella's motivations weren't entirely pure when it came to him. Somehow he worried that, with Aria dropping her guard under the current circumstances, that things were going to take a turn on their head and that they were going to be in for trouble.

He knew that she wasn't going to be willing to talk any more on the matter, so he leaned over and kissed the side of her head and then shifted down into a lying position on the bed. Aria reached over and turned the lamp on her nightstand off, and then re-crossed her arms over her chest and stared into the darkness of her room.

While she had a vague understanding of what Ezra was afraid of seeing happen, it frustrated her to no end. Partly because she didn't want him to be right, and if he wasn't, then he was being entirely unfair. But also partly because if he **was** right, then one or both of them was going to get hurt again, and that was the last thing she wanted.

What scared her most though, was whether or not her parents would lie to her, just to keep her around. They genuinely seemed to have turned over a new leaf, asking her to consider living at home again, and for Ezra to stay as well while they were still healing.

Still, his comments stirred things up in her. Would her parents actually put on that much of a show just to get her back home? Or was Ezra just being paranoid? Or was she? All the thoughts swirling in her head were enough to make it throb, and remind of her of the horrific concussion she still had.

She sighed heavily and laid down on the bed, trying to shake the thoughts from her head, if only to get some sleep. She looked over at Ezra. He was fast asleep next to her. She turned over and curled up against him. Instinctively, his left arm wrapped around her body, while his right rested over his body.

Aria reached her right hand over to his and gently slipped her fingers underneath his hand. The small hot pack that had been tucked underneath the small gap of space between his temporary cast and his hand had long since cooled to his natural body temperature. She gently pulled it out. Ezra groaned softly and stirred briefly, before settling again.

She turned just enough to toss the pack onto her nightstand, and then rolled back over, and rested her head against his chest. She could feel his heart beating steadily, and it brought that same simple comfort that she was used to. Her right hand slipped under his t-shirt and rested just above his belly button, and just below the large stretch of bandaging that was taped over his chest, keeping his stitches covered. She hated the idea of giving this up. Of not being able to lie next to him and listen to him breathe while he slept. She adored the idea of living with her family again. After all, wasn't that what she had wanted from the start? To coexist in her world with Ezra **and** live at home?

She wasn't sure anymore.


	31. If You Are A Cliffhanger Ending

_Chapter 30_

_If You Are A Cliffhanger Ending_

_I'm the One That Doesn't Know Anything_

Was it Monday again?

Aria Montgomery wasn't sure, as she stared around her room. So much had changed in just seven days, and she wasn't quite sure yet if she was ready to embrace it, or run from it. There were so many decisions to make in the coming days, and so many things open to her grasp, if she'd just reach out and take them. Unfortunately, part of her was terrified of those decisions.

She stared down at the duffel bags lying on her floor with apprehension. She was dressed lazily in a pair of Bermuda shorts and a sun yellow ribbed tank top. It was supposed to be in the eighties. She was supposed to be hanging out with Ezra and Adriana all day, to make up for the fact that he had spent his actual birthday in the hospital. She was **supposed** to be doing a lot of things. But all she could do was sit there and question whether the decisions sitting in front of her were the right or wrong ones. Was it possible to make the wrong decision from where she was seated?

She exhaled a sigh and moved off her bed. She walked over to her desk and sat down in the chair in front of it. It seemed like it had been forever since she had sat there and written in her journal. And how long had it _really_ been? She couldn't remember the last time. That really wasn't going to change any time soon, though.

She ran her fingers over her journal resting on top of the desk, and then looked at her nails. They were painted a lime green. Hanna had painted them for her the day before when she had spent a few hours away from the house with her friends while Ezra had gone over to the apartment with Adriana and packed his bags for New York. He was going to be there for at least two weeks. He was taking all of his paperwork for the end of the year at Hollis with him, with the intention to have it all finished and ready to turn in when he returned to Rosewood.

Hanna was leaving with Mona on vacation in just a few days. Spencer had already left to Philadelphia earlier that morning. Emily was already in Texas with her mom. And Aria had no clue where she was going to be.

"_Do you remember the first time we met?" _

_Ezra laughed as he settled a glass of water on the table in the Montgomery home. It was nearly five PM, but Ella and Byron were both at their respective work places, packing up things that needed to be brought home for the summer. Aria had ordered in pizza, and it had just arrived. _

"_Did you'd expect I'd forget?" He finally answered, as a hand rested just below his ribs. It still hurt him to laugh. _

_Aria shrugged, flipping a pizza box open. She pulled out two pieces of dripping pepperoni pizza. The cheese tore as she did so. "I don't know. I mean it's not like either of us was exactly being forthcoming about things. We were both drinking." Ezra nodded. "But I wasn't drunk. I remember everything about that day. Down to the nasty puddle on the other side of the sink that we refused to touch." Aria grimaced at the memory and struggled to hold in a gag as she settled down in a chair. Ezra sat down in the chair next to hers and pulled a slice of pizza directly from the box. He took a bite from it and then rested it on the plate Aria had gotten for him, before he reached for napkins in the middle of the table and wiped off his hands. _

"_Why do you ask?" _

_Aria shrugged, chewing a bite from one of her slices of pizza. "I was just curious." _

And to be fair, she had been. But what she was really curious about, was whether he remembered things the same way she did. Did he remember their first night together like she did any time she smelt sandalwood and vanilla? Did he remember how he used to highlight his favourite quotes in books and then give them to her to read? Did he remember how, when they used to spend their Saturday mornings together cuddled up, his thumbs used to trace circles on the insides of her palms until she fell asleep?

It killed her to wonder if maybe he thought of her favourite memories in a different way. Or if he remembered them at all. She knew his memory had been scattered since the accident. He had trouble recalling some things. Others were easy. And while it wasn't like he had entirely forgotten her or who she was, she wondered if he remembered those things.

She turned open her journal and flipped to the entry she'd made on New Years Day. It was the second day she had been sick, thanks to the flu Ezra had caught and then shared with her. She had been miserable. Too miserable to even call him, which was probably a good thing, because he had been even more ill than she had.

She brushed her fingers down the page and read the scribbles she'd made.

_**Jan. 1**__**st**_

_**It might be the beginning of a new year, but I fell like death today. I've been up since six, curled up in my blankets, and the last thing I want to do, is go back to school tomorrow. Can't believe I caught this from him. **_

_**We were supposed to spend time together today, but I don't even want to leave the room. Funny. I can't recall ever wanting to pass up time to spend with him. Well, except maybe right before I told him about Jenna…**_

So much had changed in less than a year. A year ago, she was in Iceland, happy to be away from anything that required thinking about Alison. There hadn't been an 'A'. Ezra had been the farthest thing from her mind. She understood that the years spent in high school often changed the course of someone's life, but the amount of changes that had already taken place in her first three years made her hope that the final year to come would be at least somewhat relaxed.

"Aria?"

She looked up to the doorway. Ella was standing there. She gulped as she stared at her mother. What if Ezra had been right on Saturday night? Was that possible? Would her parents really put on a show for her just to have her back at home with them? The thoughts all made her head spin too much to see straight, and she hated to believe that her parents might be that vindictive, even if they actually were.

"Yeah?" She let her journal fall shut as she pushed up from her desk. "Breakfast right?"

Ella nodded. She pushed the door shut behind her and leaned back against it. "Is something wrong? Ezra said you were coming downstairs twenty minutes ago."

Aria nodded, forcing a smile across her face. "Yeah. I was just thinking. Guess I lost track of time." She brushed a tendril of hair behind her ear. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun. "I'm hungry."

Ella smiled and stepped out of the way, pushing the door open. She walked out of the room and Aria followed slowly after her down the steps and into the kitchen. Ezra was helping Mike and Byron move food from the counter to the table. She suddenly dove past her mother when Mike and Ezra knocked into each other accidentally, knocking the air from Ezra's lungs and sending them both to the floor. Her knees slammed against the floor, and several scabs on her legs tore open as Ezra pushed himself slowly up from the floor next to her.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded slowly, bringing his left hand up to bridge of his nose. He pinched it, clenching his eyes shut. "Yeah, yeah. Just a little dizzy."

"But you're not," Ella said as she pulled Aria up under her arms. "You tore scabs open and possibly even stitches."

Aria settled onto a chair and Ella sat down on the one next to it and pulled her daughter's legs up into her lap. Byron walked over a moment later with a wet washcloth and handed it to her before offering Ezra a hand up from the floor.

"Thanks," he murmured as he stood up straight. He rested his right hand over his chest, and Aria could tell hat he wasn't as alright that he seemed. She was terrified that one bad fall or knock into his chest and he'd get injured again.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Ezra nodded, settling into a chair nearby. He did his best to appear fine, but Aria could tell his was uncomfortable at best. As soon as Ella finished wiping away the blood from her legs and covered them with bandaids, Aria pushed up from her chair and walked over to him.

Ezra looked up at her and shook his head. "I'm fine, I swear." Aria shook her had at him. "I know you better than that." Her fingers curled under the hem of his t-shirt. The look on his face told her he was frustrated, but she still continued to lift his shirt until all of his bandaging was exposed. She gently pulled on the tape until it gave way from his skin and exposed the line of stitches in the middle of his chest.

Ella turned in her seat and peered around Aria. "Stitches still look intact. Any sudden rushes of stabbing pain?" Ezra shook his head. "No. More like I'm having trouble taking a deep breath. It's probably because I'm still healing," he said insistently as he turned his attention back to Aria. He brought his left hand up and pulled her fingers away, pressing he bandaging back down against his chest. His t-shirt fell a moment later when Aria moved her hand away and stepped back, defeated. She sat down in the chair next to him and a moment later, Byron and Mike both sat down as well.

"Are we all set to eat?" Ella asked as she passed plates across the table to Byron and Mike. Everyone nodded and then began passing bowls and plates around the table. Aria took two pieces of toast, a small helping of eggs, and then at least five pieces of bacon as food moved around the table. She and Ezra shared a love of bacon, and he had several pieces on his plate, though he'd taken more eggs than she had.

They all ate in relative silence. Mike talked about he camp that he and his friend were still working towards getting into and he seemed relatively excited. That made Aria smile. She was glad to see her brother doing better, after how terrible the last six months had been for him. It reminded her that she wasn't the only one who had had such a tough year.

Breakfast passed with relative ease, though she spent more time pushing food around her plate than she did saying much of anything. The events of the day that had yet to happen were still too clear in her mind. She still wasn't sure of what she was supposed to do.

Even so, she eventually munched down the bacon and toast that was on her plate and then stood and walked her plate over to the sink. She stood there for a minute after she'd placed it in the sink. Ezra walked over a moment later. Her parents and Mike had already finished eating and taken off to meet with the lacrosse coach at the high school. She gripped the side of the counter and stared down at the empty dishes. Ezra brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tilted his head down at her, smiling.

"Hey."

She looked up at him.

"Talk to me."

Aria turned around and leaned against the counter. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at the floor. "I'm scared that you could be right. About my parents, I mean."

Ezra nodded, wrapping an arm around her waist. He pressed his lips to her forehead. "And what I am?"

Aria shook her head. "I can't… I mean, I haven't forgiven my parents yet, but I hate the idea that they might actually do something as sick as play me for a fool just to keep me here and get rid of you." Ezra rested his head on top of hers. "As pathetic as it is, you have to remember that it's because they love you."

Aria looked up at him. "Their love is conditional, Ezra. They only care when it benefit's them. That's hardly proper."

Ezra exhaled a sigh. "You're right, it's not." He pulled his arm up from where it was wrapped around his waist and checked the time on his watch. "I've got an appointment at 11 to have a permanent cast put on. Did you want to come?"

Aria shook her head. "No, I should wait for my mom to come back. I need to talk to her about all of this and figure out what to do."

Ezra nodded. He kissed her temple. "Well Adriana and I are heading over to the apartment after my appointment so I can get everything else I need to take to New York. We're leaving town by two."

Aria turned to face him. She nodded and then pulled his head down to her and kissed him. Ezra kissed her back and then kissed her forehead before stepping back and heading out of the room. Aria leaned back against the counter again and stared back down at the floor as she heard the front door shut.

She sighed with frustration a few moments later and pushed away from the counter. She made her through the house and headed up the stairs to her bedroom and then grabbed her iPod base and iPod from her nightstand and carried both to the bathroom. She returned to her bedroom long enough to shut her bedroom door and then walked back to her bathroom. She grabbed her iPod off the base and scrolled through it before settling on a playlist and placing the iPod back on the base. She made sure it was turned on and then turned around and pushed past the door to turn the shower on.

She shimmied out of her pajamas and removed the bandages all of the bandages covering her body before sticking a hand in the shower and testing the water stream. Once she deemed it was warm enough, she stepped inside the shower and pulled the curtain shut.

She didn't necessarily need a shower as much as she needed to clear her head, and somehow feeling the water hit her body seemed to help. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back into the stream of water, trying to drown out her thoughts and pay more attention to the music.

"_If love is what you need,  
><em>_A soldier I will be_

_I'm an angel with a shotgun  
><em>_Fighting till the war's won  
><em>_I don't care if heaven won't take me back  
><em>_I'll throw away my faith, babeJust to keep you safe,  
><em>_Don't you know you're everything I have  
><em>_And I wanna live just not survive tonight…"_

She stood there for a good while and then eventually lathered shampoo into her hair and massaged her scalp. Afterwards, she grabbed shower gel from the counter and lathered it into a washcloth and finished washing up. Afterwards, she stepped back into the stream of water and continued to let it pour down on her. She ignored everything but the pulsing of the water running down against her body and the music playing.

As it was, the water eventually began to run cold, and she was forced to succumb to the fact that there was in fact life outside of the shower. She turned off the water and then pulled the curtain back and wrapped a towel around her slender frame before stepping out of the shower onto a drying mat. She walked over to the sink and grabbed a clip off of it and then twisted her hair up behind her head before letting the clip hold it there.

She walked out to her bedroom and opened one of the bags on the floor holding her clothes and dug through it before pulling out a black tunic with yellow daffodils printed on it and a pair of high-waist shorts. She grabbed a yellow bra and panty set as well and then walked over to her bed and tossed all of her clothes onto the bed and began drying herself off.

Once she was thoroughly dry, she put on her clothes and then headed back to her bathroom. She brushed and blow-dried her hair and then pulled it up into a pony tail, leaving a few strands down to frame her face. She spent the following half-hour applying light make-up and then finally packed all of her utensils into her make-up bag.

She was returning to her bedroom when the door opened and her mother stood before her. She walked back to her bathroom and retrieved her base before walking back to her bedroom and placing it on her nightstand. She finally turned her attention fully to Ella.

"What's up?"

Ella walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the spot next to her. Aria looked at it tentatively and then sat down, leaving at least a foot of space between she and her mother. The questions weighing on her mind began to swirl again, and she wasn't quite sure where to start. Finally, she heaved a sigh and opened her mouth.

"Are you and dad really giving Ezra a chance?" She asked. "Or is this all just a show to get me to stick around?"

Ella seemed genuinely surprised by her question, but she answered. "I swear to you, Aria. Your father and I are honestly and genuinely trying to make an effort here. We're struggling with it, I'll admit. I'm afraid we still have some issues with your relationship, but we still love you, and we want to do whatever we have to in order have you back in our lives. It's become pretty clear to us that making Ezra a part of this equation is part of that battle. We're trying."

Aria nodded slowly. She chewed on her bottom lip lightly for a moment. Her lips were dry and cracked from the past few days. "But…If you had a choice, you wouldn't want him here?" Ella opened her mouth to answer, but it was too quickly for Aria's liking.

"Please, mom. I don't want a sugarcoated answer. I honestly want to know. If you had a choice between me being here and him being a part of this, or him being gone… Which would you rather?" Ella shook her head at her daughter. "I want to give you the easy answer that's going to please you and make you happy with your father and I, but something tells me that if I did that, it wouldn't be the honest truth." She paused for a moment, and Aria felt defeated. Things were never just going to work for her, were they? She was never going to be able to have the man she knew she was destined to spend the rest of her life with, **and** her family, was she?

"**But,**" Ella added. "When you and Ezra were in the hospital, someone gave me a good talking-to, and a took it to heart. Aria, I would much rather be displeased with the current situation than to not have you in my life at all. These past few weeks haven't been easy for me or your father, either. There wasn't a single night that I didn't go to bed honestly worried about how you were or if I was going to see you the next day. I know that your father and I both had some sense of a work relationship with Ezra when we were working with him _before_ we knew about you two, but we don't know Ezra like **you** do. Not really." She paused, furrowing her brow as she stared down at a random spot on the floor. "I honestly don't think I even really realized just how much he cared for you or was willing to protect you until that car accident; when you told me how he'd pinned you back against your seat." She shook her head. "It's very easy to play the victim and blame everyone else when you don't want to accept what's right in front of your face. I know your father and I were wrong, because we immediately jumped to the wrong conclusions and never really gave you and Ezra a chance to tell us about what had really happened with you two. And I'd be lying to you if I didn't tell you that for a while, part of me wished you would come home and tell us that you were brainwashed."

She finally looked up at Aria, looking her in the eyes. "It's tough to accept that your child is no longer a child. And your father and I only have you and Mike, so there's not a chance to have a do-over with another child. I don't think that really sunk in until Ezra's mother told me that. I don't think I really sunk in to us that you're quickly becoming an adult, and you really _don't_ have to do what we tell you for much longer." Tears filled Ella's eyes, and she patted Aria's left hand before squeezing it gently. "But I would rather find myself at odds with you over something, than to lose you completely. I made a mistake last Monday, when I told you that we should've stuck to the situation we had been in for the past few weeks. I was wrong to say that. I know now that if that accident hadn't happened, it's very likely that we wouldn't be sitting here."

Aria nodded. She was tentative to say it, but she looked her mother clearly in the eyes. "I love you, mom." Ella smiled as several tears ran down her cheeks. "I love you too, Aria." She leaned across the bed and hugged her daughter. Aria hugged her back for a moment before Ella settled back in her place. She moved to get up, but Aria stopped her.

"Wait." Ella turned around and looked at her. "What is it?" Aria picked at her fingernails, chewing on her bottom lip for a moment before looking back up at her mother. "I know you and dad want me to come back home…How would that work?" Ella smiled. "We would absolutely love if you moved back home with us. I suppose the rules would have be different, but should that be what you choose to do, we'd love to have you back here."

_-  
>How'd you know I needed that to day<br>__Wherever you are is where I wanna be  
>- <em>

Aria closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. She was terrified of this moment. She had been since she'd woken up that morning.

Ezra walked over to her and sat down on the bed next to her. Her placed her hand over hers. Just where her mother's hand had been a few hours earlier.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. A tear ran down her cheek. "Are you sure you have to go today?"

Ezra chuckled, forcing a soft smile. "Aria…" "Really!" She insisted. "You're still healing. You-" "I've already agreed to go to New York with Adriana for two weeks. My mother all but threw a fit that she hadn't been able to coddle me the last two days. She wants to hover like a hawk through my recovery."

She nodded slowly and looked down at her hands as she picked at the nail polish on her fingernails.

"You know you can always come with me," he said softly, nodding his head towards her.

Aria lifted her head up to look at him. "My parents…"

Ezra nodded, but even his sense of understanding seemed tainted slightly by sadness.

"They **just** started coming around," she said. "And I talked with my mom today…I'm afraid if I leave with you…" She just shook her head.

"I get it," Ezra replied. He pushed off the bed, placing a hand against his chest as he let out a deep breath. He leaned down and picked up his bag off the floor. "Adriana and I are leaving shortly." He leaned down and kissed her quickly on the lips, and then walked out of the room.

Aria exhaled a heavy sigh and reached a hand up to her face. She wiped the tears from her face as another tear fell from her eye.

"Aria?"

She looked up at the doorway as Ella stepped around it. "Hey." She wiped another tear away from her face quickly.

Ella walked over to her bed and sat down next to her. "You seem upset." Aria shrugged. "It's just hard." Ella nodded, squeezing Aria's hand lightly. "You've shared everything for the last two months. Your father and I have taken that into consideration."

Aria furrowed her bro. "What do you mean?" "Your father and I have been talking since you came home from the hospital. We both know that this is something that would be hard for you to get used to under any circumstance, and that we need to give you the freedom to make your own choices. We know we pushed you out of here without giving you or Ezra a chance. Because of that, we've come to the agreement that until your eighteenth birthday, should you decide one hundred percent to move back home… We're going to allow an open door policy." Aria's eyes widened. "Meaning what?"

"Meaning that, provided there's a phone call, and you're not spending every night of the week there, we're not going to stop you, should you decide to stay with Ezra at…the apartment."

Aria nodded slowly. She looked back down at her hands and began picking at her fingernails again.

"Aria." Ella said firmly.

Aria looked back up at Ella. "Hmm?" "Go." She laughed as she pointed towards the open door. "Go to New York with Ezra and Adriana." "But I just got home," Aria said slowly.

Ella nodded. "And that's exactly where you'll come to hen you get back, provided that's what you want. Your father and I want you to move back in… But we understand if you decide to continue with the emancipation process." Aria gave her a watery smile and several more tears ran quickly down her face as she dove at her mother and hugged her tightly. She hopped up off her bed a moment later and scrambled to grab a few things that weren't already tucked into the bags lying around the room. They'd been there since her parents had gone over to her and Ezra's apartment the week before to get things for her.

A few moments later, she charged from the room and Ella followed closely behind her. She followed her all the way down the stairs and out of the house, where she met up with Byron. He slipped an arm around her.

"She's going to New York?" He asked.

Ella nodded, smiling up at him. "Baby steps. We're getting our daughter back."

Twenty feet away, Aria dropped her bags and jumped into Ezra's arms. He stumbled back a few steps, but caught his footing as he wrapped his arms around her as well. She leaned her head back far enough to press her lips to his, pushing her hands through his hair.

_-  
>Look around and tell me what you see<br>__Everything, everything but me  
>- <em>

Ezra pushed the door shut and walked across the room to where Aria was seated on the floor. She was holding her cell phone in her hands. Her mother had just sent her the preliminaries of her final grades in an e-mail. She was getting a little bit of late-night work done. He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"How'd you do?"

"All A's and B's," she said after a moment. She passed her phone to him. Ezra looked it over and then settled it on the coffee table nearby and kissed her forehead, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. They were settled in the guest room. Aria rested her head onto his shoulder.

"I'm proud of you," he told her softly. "After everything that happened this semester, and you still kept up with school in the midst of everything else you had to do, AND you passed all your classes."

"Only because my mom convinced all my teachers to let me take my finals late and be lenient," she said softly.

"Whatever," Ezra said, shaking his head at her. "Your grades were still good enough without that. You still would've passed. And that's a lot more than I can say for most of your peers."

He laid down on the blankets laid out on the floor for them, and pulled Aria down next to him. She wrapped her arm across his body and rested her head against his chest, listening to his heart thump in his chest.

"We really made it through everything this year." She murmured.

"We did," he said affirmatively.

They laid in silence for a while, happy to enjoy each other's company and comfort. Eventually Aria got up, too uncomfortable to sleep in her jeans. Ezra opened his eyes and looked up at her. "Going somewhere?"

She shook her head, smiling at him from across the room as she dug through one of her bags. "Just changing."

She slipped out of her clothes and pulled on a pair of grey cotton shorts and one of Ezra's t-shirts before she walked back over to him. He opted simply to take off his jeans and toss them aside before she laid back down next to him. She stared at the small fire crackling in the fire and then reached behind her and grabbed her iPod from her bag, where it was resting on the coffee table. She turned it on and then leaned over Ezra and rested it on the base, making sure it was the song she wanted.

She laid back down next to him and wrapped her arms around him again as he wrapped his arms around her as well.

"We good?" He asked.

Aria nodded. She closed her eyes.

_"Could this be more?  
><em>_I've been up all night riding subway lines  
><em>_Now we're sleeping on your floor  
><em>_Can we make this a lifetime,  
><em>_You're all I want right now..."_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Not going to lie: you guys might not be entirely pleased with where this ends, but not to worry, things change right in the first chapter of Say Anything, which will be up soon!


	32. TIDBITS AND EXTRAS

_40 DAYS TIDBITS AND EXTRAS_

**What is the meaning of the title: **

Let me first explain this to you: I am a fan of Lights. She's a Canadian musician whose music I've used for time breaks more than once in this story. She's engaged to a man named Beau Bokan. He's the lead singer of the band Blessthefall.

These two are engaged to be married some time this year. Last year, they were separated for a period of **40 Days** while they were both touring. During that time, Lights wrote Beau a song titled **And Counting**. In response, he wrote her a song called **40 Days…** Now while they songs aren't _technically_ companions, for Lights/Beau fans, they are.

**How does that translate to the story: **

Well, since the songs are all about those 40 days spent apart, the premise was quite simple. The 40 days stand for the 40 days that Aria's parents refuse to see what they're doing to their daughter. Honestly, I don't think I really knew that And Counting was going to come into it until very recently when I decided on doing a sequel. That makes And Counting quite clear, doesn't it? **It's not over. **

**My thoughts on -A: **

Not going to lie. I had no idea who A was when I planned the climax of this story. All I knew was that Jackie was going to cause a car accident for Aria and Ezra, and they were going to be badly injured, and A was somehow involved. For me, I've learned that I develop stories best when I have a beginning, climax, ending, and a few milestones in between. Everything else just kind of fills in along the way.

For example: **I didn't plan the expo performance until a few chapters before it happened, but I always knew they were going to spend a weekend in New York. **

Moreover, I flip-flopped on who A was for weeks leading up to the season 2 finale, and honestly made a last second decision on who the show seemed to be selling as one of the top possibilities

**Ezra's family and past: **

I should start by saying this: I forgot that on the show, he has a brother. To be honest, I'm quite happy I did, because Ezra already has Hardy, and I feel like Hardy is such a good staple for any story, because he's so entirely opposite of Ezra. He's the total party-boy, while Ezra is the good boy who stays out of trouble.

Ezra's mom was quite easy. I knew that I wanted someone who had an entirely different opinion than Aria's parents, and just simply accepted her children for the choices they made. I've got a few theories about his family on the show, but those I'll keep to myself because there's a story idea I'm really into…That I'll get around to eventually.

As far as his father…Well, should we discuss how shiny and golden they try to make Ezra look, aside from his relationship with Aria? I wanted to rough our boy up a little and make him a little less shiny. Having a rough childhood helped with that.

**Why write a sequel?: **

Simply put, as I approached the end of this story, I just wasn't ready to see this arc end. I've even considered a trilogy which will follow Aria to college (as the sequel is planned to follow her entire senior year.) The last story I wrote was 44 chapters and took me nearly a year to finish (11 months to be exact). This story is about 100,000 words less, but it took a third of the time to write, and I honestly love it more. I just can't imagine being done with this storyline yet. There are other stories and ideas in progress, but I'm probably going to give this story the predominate attention.

**40 Days and Counting playist: **

_40 Days_ - Blessthefall  
><em>And Counting<em>… - Lights  
><em>Romance Is<em> - Lights  
><em>Happiness<em> - The Fray  
><em>Look After You<em> - The Fray  
><em>Catch Your Fall<em> - Gavin Mikhail  
><em>Secret<em> _World_ - Gavin Mikhail  
><em>Sight Unseen<em> - Gavin Mikhail  
><em>Endlessly<em> - Green River Ordinance  
><em>Wish You Were Here<em> - Hey Monday  
><em>Mine<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Sparks Fly<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>The Story of Us<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Enchanted<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Ours<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Haunted<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Drops of Jupiter (live)<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>Bette Davis Eyes (live)<em> -Taylor Swift  
><em>It's Your Love<em> - Tim McGraw  
><em>She's My Kind Of Rain<em> - Tim McGraw  
><em>Ordinary Day<em> - Vanessa Carlton  
><em>A Thousand Miles<em> - Vanessa Carlton  
><em>Love Is Not A Fight<em> - Warren Barfield  
><em>Safe<em> - Westlife  
><em>I Wanna Grow Old With You<em> - Westlife  
><em>When The Rain Falls<em> - Zetta Bytes  
><em>Your Arms Feel Like Home<em> - 3 Doors Down  
><em>Heaven<em> - 3 Doors Down  
><em>Crawling Back To You<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Start Of Something Good<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Crazy<em> - Daughtry  
><em>We're Not Gonna Fall<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Losing My Mind<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Home<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Feels Like Tonight<em> - Daughtry  
><em>What About Now<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Call Your Name<em> - Daughtry  
><em>Right Here, With You<em> - David Cook  
><em>Fade Into Me<em> - David Cook  
><em>I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing<em> - David Cook  
><em>Always Be My Baby<em> - David Cook  
><em>I Could Not Ask For More<em> - Edwin McCain  
><em>Wouldn't Change A Thing<em> - Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas  
><em>The Riddle<em> - Five For Fighting  
><em>Recovery Begins<em> - Fireflight  
><em>Battle<em> - Colbie Calliat  
><em>I Never Told You<em> - Colbie Calliat  
><em>This Is Our Town<em> - We The Kings  
><em>Fix A Heart<em> - Demi Lovato  
><em>Skyscraper<em>- Demi Lovato  
><em>Where Is My Head<em> - Hey Monday  
><em>Hide Away<em> - Hilary Duff  
><em>Who's That Girl<em> - Hilary Duff  
><em>Safe And Sound<em> - Taylor Swift  
><em>New York's Best Kept Secret<em> - Ashley Tisdale  
><em>Angel With A Shotgun<em> - The Cab  
><em>High Road<em> - Kate Voegele  
><em>You Can't Break A Broken Heart<em> - Kate Voegele  
><em>Unfair<em> - Kate Voegele  
><em>Forever &amp; Almost Always<em> - Kate Voegele  
><em>Say Anything<em> - Kate Voegele  
><em>A Town Like This<em> - Cady Groves  
><em>Give Your Heart A Break<em> - Demi Lovato  
><em>Every Time We Touched<em> - Cascada (ballad version)  
><em>Can't Help Falling In Love With You<em> - Ingrid Michaelson


End file.
